A Luxembourg cross-border worker has been detained in a Russian jail since August, and his lawyer reports he has endured beatings during his confinement.
Mikhail Lochtchinine, also known as “Mike,” is a dual Belgian-Russian national who was detained while visiting his father this summer. According to his LinkedIn profile, Lochtchinine—who hails from the Trier region—works for Luxair as a database administrator. At the time of writing, Luxair had not replied to a request for confirmation.
The ordeal began when he traveled to St. Petersburg to see his father, who had just suffered a heart attack.
A trip that turned into a trap
To sidestep visa formalities on previous occasions, Lochtchinine used his Russian passport to enter Russia, crossing the Latvia-Russia border at the Ubylinka checkpoint on his German-registered motorcycle.
His mother, Olga (divorced from his father and residing in Poland), says border guards inspected his phone, uncovering Ukrainian contacts. His sister lives in Ukraine, and he has friends there. Shortly afterward, authorities detained him and placed him under house arrest in a hotel. A few days later, he was charged with “financing a hostile state” in connection with a 2022 money transfer to a former Ukrainian girlfriend. For Moscow, this suffices to invoke article 275 of the Criminal Code: treason.
A Sever.Realii report, based on his mother’s testimony, states that Lochtchinine was moved among several detention centers, including Stary Oskol, where Ukrainian prisoners of war are held.
One lawyer has alleged that, in one facility, he endured severe beatings and humiliation, had his glasses confiscated, and suffered a detached retina—glassses he needs to see clearly. His mother notes, “He can hardly see without his glasses, and they took them away from him,” adding that her son is scheduled for eye surgery. Other relatives have also spoken of psychological and physical torture.
This is not an isolated incident
The Belgian Foreign Ministry has said it is aware of the case, but the Belgian consul in Russia has not yet managed to meet Lochtchinine. Local authorities reportedly cite his Russian nationality as a reason to refuse consular assistance. His relatives fear he could become a target for punitive actions amid Russia’s intensified treason proceedings against people with dual nationality.
“My son is not a spy. He just wanted to see his father.”
Since the war in Ukraine began, NGOs have documented numerous similar cases. Accusations frequently rest on money transfers or private exchanges. For Lochtchinine, the danger is amplified by the lack of any realistic path to a fair trial. “My son is not a spy. He just wanted to see his father,” his mother reiterates.
The initial report on his case came from Sever.Realii, a regional project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), known for investigative reporting in areas where press freedom is restricted. Based outside Russia, Sever.Realii is generally regarded as reliable by international observers, though it is labeled a “foreign agent” by Moscow. Its mission is to document life and abuses in northwestern Russia, drawing on substantiated accounts and firsthand testimony.
(This article originally appeared in Virgule. Machine translation with editing and adaptation by John Monaghan.)
