РУС vestochka.io
Alexey Smykov

Alexey Smykov

Rostov-on-Don

29 yr old (born in 29.10.1996)

Address: 346408, Ростовская область, г. Новочеркасск, ул. Украинская, д. 1, ФКУ СИЗО-3 ГУФСИН России по Ростовской области, Смыков Алексей Владимирович, 1996 г.р.

Write a letter

From 2018 to 6 March 2022 served in the Ukrainian regiment "Azov" as a sniper, mortar gunner, machine gunner, radio telephonist-diver. On 6 March 2022, he was captured during fighting in Mariupol. He was accused of forcible seizure and retention of power, participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation and receiving training to carry out terrorist activities. Human rights activists note that he is a prisoner of war, so he should not have been held criminally liable actually for participation in hostilities, and in addition, they consider the charges absurd. According to women who were tried in the same case and handed over to Ukraine as part of the prisoner-of-war exchange, Smykov was beaten on the head with a pistol while in custody in Donetsk. At the same time, the appointed defence lawyer said, "It would be better if you were beaten." On 26 March 2025, Smykov was sentenced to 23 years in a strict regime colony.

You can read more about politically persecuted people in the Telegram channel OVD-Info LIVE and our database of politically motivated criminal prosecutions.

Alexey Smykov
will receive your letter

You can also send a paper letter via regular mail. More details on how to do this can be found in the instructions on the "Open Space" website, the material from which was used in this text.

Address: 346408, Ростовская область, г. Новочеркасск, ул. Украинская, д. 1, ФКУ СИЗО-3 ГУФСИН России по Ростовской области, Смыков Алексей Владимирович, 1996 г.р.

How to write the letter?

Getting started
What can I write about?
On censorship: what can’t I write?
Is it allowed to send photographs?
What language do I use in my letter?
What are the limits on sending letters?
Should I expect a reply and do I have to respond?
How do I maintain the correspondence?
I would like to send letters by myself, how do I do it?
How else can I support Russian dissidents?
It says that the prisoner I was assigned was tried for terrorism, or extremism or something else scary, what’s up with that?