Sasha Skochilenko was detained on April 11, 2022 in St. Petersburg for replacing price tags in a Perekrestok supermarket for anti-war stickers. These stickers had information on the actions of the Russian military in Mariupol and other facts about the war in Ukraine — Russian authorities consider this information “knowingly false.” A shop-goer’s accusation led to a criminal case being filed against Sasha.  

Sasha Skochilenko is an artist and musician from St. Petersburg. In 2014, Sasha published an educational comic book which later became A Book about Depression. Sasha was one of the first Russians to openly talk about her experience of life and struggle with this disorder. Later, she created comic books about the symptoms of bipolar affective disorder, and living with anxiety and other mental conditions. Sasha’s illustrations on mental health can be found in the book Bipolar Disorder by Masha Pushkina, as well as on the social medias of nonprofit organizations such as “Partnership of the Equals” and “Bipolar Explorers Association.” Now Sasha faces up to 10 years in prison. She has already spent a year enduring torturous conditions in the pre-trial detention center. In the isolation ward, her illnesses have worsened and she needs constant medical care and medication. 

Her mother, Nadezhda Skochilenko, spoke about the investigation and her life over the past year.

— Tell us, how did this year go, what did you and Sasha have to deal with?

— Sasha has been in custody since the first day of her detention. No one could imagine that  swapping price tags would merit opening a criminal case. At first, we really hoped that the pre-trial measure would be changed and Sasha would be released under house arrest. But at each hearing, the judge left Sasha in the pre-trial detention center. This was motivated by the fact that celiac disease is not on the list of extenuating circumstances, as well as the fact that Sasha’s crime falls into the category of serious offenses. The court also referred to the fact that Sasha has a sister in France and friends in Ukraine, and therefore she can escape from house arrest. Documents confirming her state of health have been on file since the first month of the investigation. The doctors were summoned to the court, who confirmed that the pre-trial detention center was dangerous for Alexandra’s life. This did not unsettle the court.

Over many months, thanks to publicity and the sending of countless complaints and letters to various entities, such as the Human Rights Committee in St. Petersburg, the Human Rights Committee of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the FSIN Department [Federal Penitentiary Service], the St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office, the Committee on Health Care, the Social Food Administration under the St. Petersburg Government, the Vasileostrovsky District Prosecutor’s Office, and the Russian Health Ministry, it became possible for Sasha to improve her living conditions. They managed to move her from the “press hut” [note: a prison cell in which unbearable conditions are created and the detainee is subjected to pressure from fellow inmates who collaborate with the administration], where she was tormented by her cellmates, to a two-bed cell in the medical unit. There were some heart examinations and a consultation with a cardiologist. She also manages to meet with a psychotherapist and receive medication he prescribes. It’s not as regular as it needs to be, though. The management of the pre-trial detention center even tried to convince us that they were cooking separate meals for Sasha, but in those conditions it was unlikely. But our constant concern about Sasha’s health and nutrition keeps them on their toes, and that’s a good thing.

— Lawyers and support groups are working constantly and sessions about the extension of the pre-trial measure are held regularly — how do the judges and prosecution react?

— At the end of April the city court considered the last appeal against Sasha’s arrest until July 10th. And, as usual, the court upheld Judge Demyasheva’s decision. Three lawyers are working on Sasha’s case: Yuri Mikhailovich Novolodsky, Yana Nepovinnova and Dmitry Gerasimov, as well as public defender Margarita Kislyakova. Our case is currently under investigation by the court: the prosecution has presented [its] evidence, and now its the defense’s turn. The last session was held on May 24th. Unfortunately, I could not be present in the courtroom as I left the country last year. That’s why I can only be virtually present, but it doesn’t reduce my tension and anxiety. This time [the defense] invited linguists Anastasia Grishanina and Olga Safonova, whose expertise formed the basis of the charges. The linguist Safonova was questioned by Yana Nepovinnova and by an independent expert linguist Svetlana Viktorovna Drugoveiko-Dolzhanskaya, who also conducted an examination of Sasha’s price tags — but the court doesn’t accept [Dolzhanskaya] in the case. Too independent of government opinion!

Olga Safonova reported that she was instructed to “check the facts for accuracy,” for which she compared the information on the price tags with data from other sources. According to her, this was the task given to her by the main investigation department. The interrogation could not finish — the prosecutor was “in a hurry to another session” and asked to postpone the hearing. The prosecutors now change every session, the investigator changed only once. 

— How does Sasha go through these trials, how does she fight in court, do you see her on broadcasts or photos from court?

— During the session, Sasha asked for a 15 minute break because she was not feeling well. She was very sad; Sonya [note: Sasha Skochilenko’s partner] was not in court that day. Sonya is sick right now. I always see my daughter smiling when she sees all the people coming: it gives her strength. And, of course, her girlfriend Sonya is the brightest of all for her. In April they were finally allowed visits. Previously, Sonya and Alexei, our closest friend, had been declared witnesses and while the investigation and interrogations lasted, they were forbidden to see Sasha. Visits are also very conditional meetings. They’re an hour of talking through a glass grille, over a telephone receiver, in front of the guards. That’s two visits a month! Two times! Which you have to fit into a specific time frame. Work with lawyers and agree on a time so as not to interfere with each other. But even that was banned for a whole year. Also, deliveries can only be passed on if you manage to “grab” a spot in the queue. Telephone conversations are forbidden.

— How do you communicate with your daughter, how do her relatives support her?

— I am now living in France with my eldest daughter. In February my girls managed to meet. Anya went to St. Petersburg to see Sasha. I don’t have the opportunity to go to Russia yet. I can only write to Sasha. We correspond via FSIN-letter. Our letters are almost never blocked and we don’t cross any words out. We get to exchange messages once a week. I know that sometimes she just doesn’t have the energy to write anything, and sometimes she sends letters that encourage me. We write mostly just about life. How we love each other and all our relatives, how we’ll meet later and go for a walk. At first, I didn’t write everything I wanted to, but gradually I began to write about the rallies against the war here and how we support political prisoners. About the interesting people I happened to meet here, without mentioning last names. I write what may give her strength, what confirms the truth of her action. I write how complete strangers know about her and pass on their support. I send greetings from other political prisoners, and I also send them greetings from Sasha. Of course, I write about her nephews, my grandchildren, who give me the strength to go on in this life. She [describes in response] her thoughts and just everyday little things. 

I wait with agitation for all the court sessions and follow the process in the telegram channel supporting Sasha (the live broadcast is also usually carried out by “Mediazona”). The internet is filled with photos and video footage from court, and comments all posted by people who come to the hearings. There are times when I see in the support channel the presence of over a thousand people at the start of a meeting. I see them bring her in, and people greet her with applause.

— How do you feel in these moments?

— The course of each session is impossible to predict. Sometimes [it] can be over in 40 minutes, [sometimes] it stretches for hours. And I’m already worried that she’s hungry all day; because her travel ration is completely inedible to her, she can’t eat any of it. And that she is terribly exhausted — as her already pale lips can tell. 

During this year we have become much closer. Sasha is now 32 years old and had been living on her own for a long time with the beautiful Sonya. And now I see my little girl again, unjustly punished. I know how much her health has deteriorated. That she, so free-spirited, cannot just go out at will. That she has been deprived of her most beloved activity of music. That she can only be near her girlfriend and her friends in spirit. That she has been living in impossible conditions for more than a year. That she has had to endure a brutal detention and hours of interrogation. And all this — for speaking out against the deaths of civilians. Sasha has always been acutely sensitive to injustice and lies.

— Sasha is mostly written about in the context of her case. Tell us about her: how did she grow up, what were her childhood hobbies, how did she react to the events of the beginning of the war?

— Since childhood, she has been infatuated with music. Later she started writing songs. School was not easy. She changed schools three times. [For a large portion of time she] was homeschooled for health reasons. She studied mostly on her own. After high school, she graduated from the Theatre Academy on Mokhovaya Street in St. Petersburg. Then she went to St. Petersburg State University to study in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. But she continued to compose poems and sing them. She organized musical jams — improvisations in which anyone could take any instrument and blend in with the general music.

At the beginning of the war she held a Peace Jam, [where] she read new poems and openly expressed her position. She was detained at the first rally, but continued speaking out. Perhaps the price tags were just a pretext for her arrest. 

— How has this tragedy affected you personally? And how important is it to help Sasha now?

— I used to understand what was going on in the country, and I knew about political prisoners, but now I just went out into the world. Now I’m not just following Sasha’s case and writing letters only to her. Now I understand that support is in words, in money, in publicity. [Currently] thousands of people are being unjustly persecuted by the state. And we are needed to express support for these people.

“Yes, not everyone can come out with a picket, an action. It is not safe to openly express one’s position in Russia. But anyone and everyone can write words of support for political prisoners. It is the safest thing to do, but still very important. It is also very important to come to court sessions. Political prisoners wait for these days to hear words of support, to not fall into despair. To know that they are not forgotten. It’s also the support of their loved ones: when I see how many people write to my daughter, it gives me strength, too”

And I’m very grateful to everyone for that! For letters, for money transfers, for sharing information with each other. For just someone thinking about her, following her case. I am grateful to all those who care, who share their heart with me and with others in this difficult time. Sasha in her letters always asks to be thanked for this warmth. Maria Ponomarenko also wrote me: “Thank everyone on my behalf who says and does something for political prisoners!”