Russian TV designer Alexander Kondratov dies in hospital while held on a treason charge

What we know

Died at Botkin hospital, Moscow
Hospitalized from detention on Oct 23

Not yet

The cause of his death

Alexander Kondratov, 52, died at Moscow's Botkin hospital, the rights project First Department said. He had been taken there from a pre-trial detention centre on Oct 23.

Background

Kondratov, who had lived in Kyiv since 2012, was detained at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on May 5 while renewing his passport. He was charged with treason over six online posts whose content is unknown.

He was the production designer of Likvidatsiya, a 2007 series set in postwar Odessa, and won the Golden Eagle and TEFI awards for it.

Political-case deaths since January

11 deaths in 2026

First Department counts his death as the 11th of a defendant in a political case in Russia since the start of 2026, and the second in a month.

World · 8 d ago

Russian TV designer Alexander Kondratov dies in hospital while held on a treason charge

Alexander Kondratov, 52, died at Moscow's Botkin hospital, the rights project First Department said. He had been taken there from a pre-trial detention centre on Oct 23.

Kondratov, who had lived in Kyiv since 2012, was detained at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on May 5 while renewing his passport. He was charged with treason over six online posts whose content is unknown.

He was the production designer of Likvidatsiya, a 2007 series set in postwar Odessa, and won the Golden Eagle and TEFI awards for it.

First Department counts his death as the 11th of a defendant in a political case in Russia since the start of 2026, and the second in a month.

Russian TV designer Alexander Kondratov dies in hospital while held on a treason charge

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