Belgian Citizen Visiting Sick Father in Russia Sentenced to 16 Years

Another major international incident has occurred in the Russian Federation involving the arrest of former compatriots living abroad and the leveling of extremely serious charges against them. The Pskov Regional Court delivered its final verdict against programmer Mikhail Loshchinin, who was detained at the Russian state border in the summer of 2025. The court found him guilty of "treason", 16 years of imprisonment.

Old Correspondence and FSB Arrest

According to information released by the publication "Ostorojno, novosti", the court accused Loshchinin of "financially supporting representatives of foreign states officially recognized as enemies of the Russian Federation." Investigations revealed that this grave accusation was based on ordinary personal correspondence between Loshchinin and his former Ukrainian girlfriend in 2022. At that time, the woman had asked him for a certain amount of money.

The actual sequence of events unfolded as follows:

• Purpose: Mikhail Loshchinin, who holds both Russian and Belgian citizenship, had not lived in Russia since 2000. On July 1, 2025, he set out on a motorcycle to visit his sick and ailing father residing in Saint Petersburg.

• Border Check: While crossing the Russian border via Latvia, he was stopped by officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB). During the search, the aforementioned old correspondence from 2022 was found on his personal phone.

Statements on Detention and Torture

According to a statement by a volunteer group supporting Loshchinin, the programmer was initially detained under the false pretext of attempting an illegal border crossing. For the first two weeks, he was held under supervision in one of the local hotels in the town of Pytalovo, Pskov Region.

Subsequently, he was unexpectedly transferred to Pre-trial Detention Center No. 2 (SIZO) in the Belgorod Region. Reports indicate that this facility primarily houses Ukrainian prisoners of war. Loshchinin's relatives reported that during his time in this specific detention center, he was severely beaten and subjected to various forms of physical torture.

Formalization of Charges: The prisoner was held in the Belgorod detention center for exactly three weeks without any official charges being filed. He was later transferred back to Pre-trial Detention Center No. 1 in Pskov, where a formal criminal case for "treason" was opened against him.

International Relations and Belgian Diplomatic Efforts

This incident involving Mikhail Loshchinin has sparked widespread discussion and significant uproar outside the Russian Federation, particularly within the European Union.

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Moscow made several official appeals to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation regarding this situation. Diplomatic staff requested permission to visit their citizen, Loshchinin, in detention and provide consular assistance. However, the Russian side rejected these requests and refused to allow Belgian diplomats access to the prisoner.

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