An activist who distributed leaflets for the Ukrainian project “I Want to Live” died in a special detention center in Rostov-on-Don.

40-year-old activist Anatoly Berezikov died in a special detention center in Rostov-on-Don, OVD-Info reports, citing his lawyer Irina Gak.

According to the lawyer, on June 14, she arrived at the special detention center to meet with her client, but there she was informed that Berezikov was not in the building. In the yard, the woman saw a medical car where the activist’s body was being carried.

The lawyer also said that the day before she recorded traces of a stun gun on her client, and Berezikov himself complained that law enforcement officers threatened to kill him. Gak believes that the activist could have been killed during torture.

According to OVD-Info, over the past month Berezikov was arrested three times under articles of disobedience to the police and petty hooliganism. Human rights activists suggest that the basis for the persecution of the activist could be the fact that he posted leaflets in Rostov-on-Don for the Ukrainian project “I Want to Live,” which helps the Russian military surrender.

Updated . OVD-Info employees called the Rostov special detention center where Anatoly Berezikov was being held. The duty officer told them that the activist had “committed suicide.”