A man from Kaluga, who served a sentence for a comment about the FSB explosion, was detained at Minsk airport.

On the evening of 1 May, Ivan Lyubshin, a resident of Kaluga, was detained at Minsk airport, from where he was planning to fly to Armenia in order to emigrate to France.

The man was due to depart at midnight, but two hours before his flight, he was detained by Belarusian border guards. They handed him over to the local police, and the next day he ended up with KGB officers. They transported him to Russia, after which Kaluga operatives detained Lyubshin.

A criminal case was opened against the man for evading administrative supervision (Article 314.1, Part 1 of the Criminal Code). On 3 May, he was questioned by an investigator. He gave a confession.

The Kaluga resident is concerned that he may be accused of attempting to travel to Ukraine—security officers mentioned this. He has provided them with all the documents related to his plans to emigrate to France. Lyubshin told OVD-Info that he had already been granted a French humanitarian visa and was due to collect it at the French embassy in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on 6 May. He had also purchased a plane ticket from Yerevan to Paris and booked a hotel.

As part of the criminal case, a search was conducted at Lyubshin’s home. He noted that FSB officers were present during the search. He was also made to sign a pledge not to leave Kaluga Region. The investigator handed him a summons requiring him to appear today, 4 May, at 10 a.m.

However, Lyubshin was unable to attend, as he was still being held by the security officers. Instead, they drew up a report accusing him of petty hooliganism (Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code). He was accused of swearing in public and ignoring comments from passers-by. Lyubshin says that since being handed over to the Russian security officers, he has been under their constant surveillance.

The man was taken to the Kaluga District Court, where he is awaiting the hearing on the report.

In March 2025, Lyubshin was released from prison. After that, he was required to remain under administrative supervision for another eight years: to report regularly to the police, not leave his home at night, and not travel outside the region without permission from the security forces.

17:26 Judge Alexander Senkin sentenced Lyubshin to 12 days’ arrest.

In court, the Kaluga resident learned that there is a testimony from a certain witness in the case files, who claimed that he was swearing in the entrance hall at 294 Moskovskaya Street. The building houses an MFC (government services centre), and next door (294a) the Centre “E” used to be located.

• In 2020, Lyubshin was sentenced to five years and two months in prison on charges of justifying terrorism (Article 205.2, Part 2 of the Criminal Code). He was convicted over a comment in which he called 17-year-old Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who carried out a bombing at the FSB building in Arkhangelsk Region, “the hero of the week, at least.” “What I meant was that he became a news hero. They twisted it as if he was ‘a real hero,’” the man explained later.
• Lyubshin reported that after being detained in the case, FSB officers tortured him with a stun gun and beat him, as well as threatened to kill him and bury him in the forest.