From Navalny activists to "special operation participants"

Former Navalny team activist Sergei Chaikovsky, now a participant in the war with Ukraine, spoke to Tomsk high school students at "Conversations on Important Things" about the work of Russian special forces. drew Attention TV2 journalists.

It became known in September that a former Navalny supporter was fighting in Donbas. Sergey began posting stories about his life in the trenches and even showed his military ID.

He arrived in Tomsk on vacation and was immediately received by the region's deputy governor, Anatoly Rozhkov, who is responsible for supporting Tomsk's military and mobilized personnel. Chaikovsky boasted of a photo with Rozhkov on his social media accounts. Chaikovsky even managed to receive a medal for "Participant in a Special Military Operation." He had previously stated that he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense due to the threat of criminal prosecution for his connections to Navalny's campaign.

Tchaikovsky became widely known after, as an 11th-grade student, he recorded a video of a lesson in which the history and life safety teacher called everyone attending Alexei Navalny's rallies "traitors, traitors, and liberal fascists." Tchaikovsky then worked on Alexei Navalny's campaign staff, participated in Ksenia Sobchak's presidential campaign, and volunteered for Open Russia. He held pickets, participated in rallies, and was fined 30 rubles for a Instagram story featuring Nancy Pelosi, in which the American Democratic politician criticized Putin and supported Ukraine.

In mid-2022, Tchaikovsky deleted all his anti-war posts from social media.