Russian authorities launch negligence probe after pacifist blogger found hanged in prison cell

Russian authorities have opened a criminal negligence investigation into the death of jailed anti-war activist and blogger Vegan Khristolub Bozhiy (previously known as Dmitry Kuznetsov), who was found hanged in a solitary confinement cell on Friday, according to Mediazona.

Khristolub Bozhiy’s father was summoned for questioning on Monday by investigators, who told him his son had been discovered dead in the solitary confinement unit where he had been held since early April. Surveillance cameras in the cell block may not have been functioning at the time of his death, according to the outlet SOTAvision.

The father does not believe his son took his own life. He noted that Khristolub Bozhiy had previously said he would go on hunger strike if subjected to pressure — and had indeed done so after being placed in solitary a previous time, ending the strike only when he was returned to the general population.

"He had a strained relationship with the administration of Penal Colony No. 2, and there were also minor conflicts with some cellmates,” a person who knew the blogger told SOTAvision. "So it's hard to say at this point what caused his death."

Khristolub Bozhiy, 43, ran a website and YouTube channel devoted to Christianity. He wrote extensively about veganism, which he described as "love for all of God's creations”, and delivered sermons criticising homophobia and monogamy. He also spoke out publicly against Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

One video in which he addressed the war formed the basis for two counts of "rehabilitating Nazism". A separate video about Islam led to two further counts of "insulting the feelings of believers". He was convicted in February 2025 and sentenced to three years in prison, with a court order requiring him to undergo psychiatric treatment.