A scientist from Birobidzhan began a hunger strike in a prison colony; he has been held in solitary confinement for two months.

A geodesist scientist convicted of treason Valery Kachin started He's on a hunger strike in prison, according to the Vegan-Peredachki project, which supports him. He's serving his sentence in Penal Colony No. 8 in Udmurtia and has been in solitary confinement for two months now.

"I didn't commit a crime so that I could later repent for something, paint curbs in a penal colony, live according to a prisoner's daily routine, greet every guard 10 times a day, and do other such brutal nonsense." 

In solitary confinement, Kachin can't adhere to the vegan regimen he adhered to for 14 years before his sentence—parcels aren't accepted there. The "Vegan Parcels" project helped him with food. To help the scientist now, the project is calling on people to write petitions to government agencies. Instructions can be found here. here. 

Valeriy Kachin, a junior researcher at the reserve, was arrested in 2022 on charges of treason. Immediately after his 2025 sentence was handed down, he was placed in a pretrial detention center, where he has remained continuously since July. Investigators believe he spied for the SBU. Security officials claim he planned to go fight in Ukraine.

In Russia, prisoners go on hunger strikes as the only available way to draw attention to their situation. In 2024, a political prisoner in Birobidzhan went on hunger strike. Pavel Kushnir led to tragedy — his body could not withstand the lack of food and he died.