Alexei Moroshkin was released from psychiatric hospital on 14 June. Source: Facebook.On 14 June, Alexei Moroshkin was released from a psychiatric hospital in Chelyabinsk. Moroshkin, 36, spent more than 18 months here, after being convicted for inciting separatism in November 2016. According to the court, Moroshkin advocated for the creation of a “Urals People's Republic” on social media. But in a peculiar twist of events, the court decided that Moroshkin was suffering from “paranoid schizophrenia”, and was diagnosed as such.
In March 2014, Moroshkin volunteered to participate in the Crimea annexation campaign, and then joined the Vostok separatist battalion. But after becoming disillusioned in the “Russian spring”, Moroshkin returned to Chelyabinsk, and became an advocate of Ukraine online. He has also been charged with vandalism over an incident in which a bust of Lenin in Chelyabinsk was painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. According to Moroshkin's mother, there is no evidence that he was involved in the incident, but the investigation continues. Memorial Human Rights Center declared Moroshkin a political prisoner in July 2016.
We spoke to Alexei Moroshkin about his experiences in psychiatric hospital.
