Bogdan Yakimenko (Max Vertzinsky)
Moscow
26 yr old (born in 03.09.1999)
Address: 107996, г.Москва, ул. Матросская Тишина, дом 18, ФКУ СИЗО-1 УФСИН России по г. Москве ("Матросская тишина"), Якименко Богдан Тарасович, 1999 г.р.
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He is known among anti-fascists circles under the pseudonym Max Vertzinsky. At the time of his arrest, he was a first-year student at the Faculty of Law of the Southern Federal University, ran the Skinheads R.A.S.H group on VKontakte, and was the creator of the non-profit antifascist clothing merch company "Antifa United".
He was detained after a fight with a group of neo-Nazis on 5 January 2020 in Moscow, along with another defandant, Mikhail Ivanov. Supporters claim that Yakimenko did not use any weapons during the fight. The next day, officers from Centre "E" (the police unit for combating extremism) and the FSB came to the police station. According to the detainees, they pressured and threatened them in an attempt to coerce them into cooperation. Cases of hooliganism and battery were opened against both men. One of the attacking neo-Nazis became a victim in the case. Yakimenko was first placed under house arrest and later under a travel restriction. On 15 September 2021, Yakimenko was sentenced to imprisonment. On 27 April 2022, the appellate court overturned the sentence. On 29 May 2023, Yakimenko was sentenced to four years of forced labour.
Yakimenko attributes the attention from Centre "E" and the FSB to his anti-fascist activism.
On 5 June 2024, he was detained in Rostov-on-Don on a case of creating an extremist community and taken to Moscow. Telegram channel Antifa ru wrote that Yakimenko was tortured with electric shocks and pressured to renounce his lawyer and stop communicating with human rights defenders. On 10 June Yakimenko was sent to the pre-trial detention centre. Later it was reported that he was also charged with hooliganism, the details of which are unknown.
On 26 September 2024, the appellate court overturned the verdict in the first case. A new sentence was passed on 18 August 2025, though details are unknown.
On 1 December 2025, Yakimenko was brought to court in conjuction with the extremist community case with a broken arm.
On 2 February 2026, Yakimenko was sentenced to nine years in a general 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.
Bogdan Yakimenko (Max Vertzinsky)
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Address: 107996, г.Москва, ул. Матросская Тишина, дом 18, ФКУ СИЗО-1 УФСИН России по г. Москве ("Матросская тишина"), Якименко Богдан Тарасович, 1999 г.р.
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