The indictment accusing actor Kirill Kanakhin of treason has been confirmed, according to a report from the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office shared via its Telegram channel.
Kanakhin, aged 41, stands accused of defects in allegiance, allegedly crossing into enemy ranks as a Russian citizen. The case portrays him as a supporter of far right nationalist ideas rooted in Russophobia and the belief in Ukrainian nationalism, and it claims he left the Russian Federation to join an armed faction abroad.
According to the prosecutor’s office, in August 2022 Kanakhin traveled to Ukraine where he joined the Russian Volunteer Corps, an organization that is banned in Russia and designated as a terrorist group. The document alleges that he participated in hostilities against the Russian armed forces from January to March 2023. It also asserts that the Kherson region, which Moscow asserts as part of its territory since September 30, 2022, figures in the charges brought against him.
The office notes that Kanakhin illegally crossed the Russian state border at least twice, including involvement in the attack on the Bryansk region on March 2, 2023, and in the Belgorod region on May 22, 2023. A preventative measure that presumes detention in absentia was applied to him, and he was placed on the wanted list awaiting trial.
The criminal case has now been forwarded to the 2nd Western District Military Court for a full merits hearing. In a related development, a prior in absentia trial in Moscow concluded with the life sentence of Denis Kapustin, the founder of the Russian Volunteer Corps and the organizer of spring offensives in various Russian regions.
Earlier, Sofia Rotaru was stripped of the title of honorary citizen of Yalta as part of ongoing official actions tied to public figures and regional honors. The current proceedings highlight ongoing legal scrutiny over acts perceived as threatening state security and national sovereignty in the ongoing conflict context.