Russian From Kaliningrad Burns Himself Alive In Protest Against The War

The authorities tried to cover it up.

In Kaliningrad, on the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 37-year-old programmer Alexander Okunev committed self-immolation to protest the war. And no one found out about it, write "Important Stories".

The first mention of the case appeared in an open report by Estonia's foreign intelligence agency without specifying the name of the deceased.

"On the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale war of aggression, at five in the morning of February 24, 2025, a man born in 1988 wrote 'No to War' in the snow near a monument to a Russian soldier in Kaliningrad and set himself on fire in protest," the document said.

As it became known from the note on the results of the investigators' duty, Okunev's charred corpse was found by a passerby at about 06:40 near the monument to 1200 Guardsmen, where the Eternal Flame is located.

Beside the body on the snow with a spray paint can was written "No War".

The incident was reported to the head of the city administration Elena Dyatlova, who immediately took the case under her control. She was assisted by Evgeny Maslov, head of the local service for the protection of cultural heritage objects, and Andrey Yermak, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Kaliningrad region.

The latter was particularly worried that the self-immolation occurred near a monument to the Great Patriotic War - too symbolic.

The officials decided to cover up the incident. By 09:15 the traces of self-immolation had been removed, and the city authorities reported to their superiors that nobody had seen anything. As a result, the information really did not appear in any media and was not mentioned in social networks. Okunev's relatives also did not spread the word about the self-immolation.

Family members told of some "expert examinations" as part of the investigation, which established that "there was no outside influence."

The relatives were questioned by the Investigative Committee; the police came to Okunev's former colleagues for a "characterization," but left with nothing: "They said he worked well, did not communicate with anyone. How else to characterize him?"

Okunev's close friend recounted to "Important Stories" the content of his suicide note:

"He wrote that there was another way.

In his world, apparently, there was supposed to be world peace. He didn't want to live in such a world anymore, so he made this decision."

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