Russian artist Aleksandra Skochilenko, also known as Sasha Skochilenko, was released as part of the prisoner swap between Russia, the United States, and other Western nations on Thursday, August 1st. The 33-year-old artist and musician was sentenced in 2023 to seven years in prison after she replaced price tags with anti-war messages in a grocery store in Saint Petersburg.
Born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, Skochilenko graduated from the Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Saint Petersburg State University in 2017. She is the author of Book About Depression (2014), a comic book illustrating her own experiences with mental illness, which aimed to destigmatize mental health issues in Russia.
Skochilenko was arrested in April 2022 following her action in the Saint Petersburg store and was charged with disseminating false information about the Russian military. Following reforms to the Russian criminal code in March 2022, as part of a crackdown on opposition to the Russian war in Ukraine, this became an offense punishable with jail terms of up to 15 years
Skochilenko’s trial in 2023 attracted international attention, as it highlighted the stringent nature of the Russian government’s efforts to suppress dissent. In a closing statement at her trial, Skochilenko questioned the validity of the charges against her, asking, “How fragile must the prosecutor’s belief in our state and society be if he thinks that our statehood and public safety can be brought down by five small pieces of paper?”
In addition to Skochilenko, the prisoner swap freed 15 others from Russian prison. Among them was American journalist Evan Gershkovich.
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