Maxim Lelikov is the guy whose photo appeared on the cover of Novaya Gazeta after a rally in defense of Alexei Navalny a year ago. His head is bandaged with bandages soaked in blood. Blood flows further down the face — on the eyebrows, on the cheeks. Maxim received six stitches on his head. At this time, federal channels discussed how much red paint he spent to fake an injury. And the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Lelikov for causing injuries to police officers. Throughout 2021, he was under investigation — and as a result received four years of probation, which in modern times means that the accused under the «political article» is innocent.
A year ago, Lelikov was 17 years old, a week after the rally he turned 18. During the investigation, he was forbidden to use social networks, and he did not talk about his case so as not to harm himself. After the verdict came into force, the man from the cover of Novaya Gazeta came to the editorial office to tell how everything really happened. The special correspondent of Novaya Gazeta, who also worked at the January 23 rally, spoke with Maxim Lelikov about everything that happened to him this year.
“Adrenaline hits hard”
— Please remember January 23, 2021 of the year. You came to Pushkinskaya…
— With a friend Stepan. Everything went as smoothly as I imagined. At first, we even went in for a bite to eat, then returned back to the rally, then police officers approached us, asked us for documents and wished us a good day. I didn't even think that something could go wrong. Probably, at that time I thought that I was the smartest, and if something goes wrong, I can leave. And in fact it turned out that he was in the center of events.
When we walked along the boulevard to Trubnaya, OMON officers blocked the traffic, and the crowd stopped. The back rows continued to pull up. The crush began. I stood with Stepan in the front row — people behind us began to push us forward towards the police officers. Then the police began to beat on the legs to intimidate.
And now the back rows are pushing the front rows. The front ones break through the cordon of OMON and the crowd is already forming from the opposite side. And the OMON is in the middle.
I lost Styopa. The last thing I saw was a baton hit him. They broke their leg and hit hard on the finger. I realize that I don't see him. I get a lot of adrenaline.
And I'm trying to get back to the side from which I was pushed out in order to find Stepan. I get hit on the head with a baton. My legs go off and I fall.
Maxim Lelikov. Photo: Victoria Odissonova/Novaya Gazeta
— Did you see the person who struck?
The policeman was right in front of me. When I fell, someone grabbed my hands and pulled me out. I have everything — I understand that some kind of kapets is happening. I am very grateful to the people I didn't know who happened to be nearby. They had bandages. They bandaged my head. If it wasn't for them, I don't know what would have happened. There was a lot of blood flowing.
Photo from Maxim's personal archive
— Where were you hit?
— Here.
Maxim points almost to the top of his head. The photo from the emergency room shows that there are stitches in this place, with brilliant green on top of them. In the certificate, the doctors wrote the diagnosis: “Bruised wound of the scalp.”
— Was it very painful?
— It didn't hurt. The body just shut down.
— In the photo from the rally, it seems that the blood is flowing from your nose as well.
“They hit my head so badly that blood ran all over my face. That's why I wasn't wearing a mask. Everyone then told me: “Maxon, you are a fool, you shouldn’t have taken off the mask from your nose, then they wouldn’t have come out on you.” Although I think it's unlikely. In any case, they would leave. But due to the fact that the blood flowed, it was very difficult to breathe. I was out of breath. And so he pulled it off.
I return to the crowd, trying to get to the front rows again, and at that moment someone throws a firecracker at the police officers' feet. I hear a loud explosion and don't understand what's going on. I have a broken head, I don’t understand what is happening, I think, they really shot at someone. People were all frightened, they sat down sharply. I think, what if they could have shot at Stepan or just hit someone.
Already with a broken head, I made my way to the front rows, tried to break through the cordon of police officers.
Actually, for this I was given Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code — according to it, I have two episodes for “attacking an employee on duty.”
Photo: Victoria Odissonova/Novaya Gazeta
When I went to the rally, I didn’t have a goal to arrange a fight or brawl there. I was just trying to somehow get through to the opposite side in order to find a friend — that was my main goal. The second episode with another police officer, I did not remember at all before I was shown the video. Some people tried to snatch the club from him. As a result, they pulled it out, he lost his balance, fell, and at that moment I step on his foot when he is already lying. I don't remember this moment at all.
Screams began from the crowd in the direction of the riot police. Some people started spitting at the police officers. I just understand that I don’t want to be among such people and why are you better than employees who exceed their authority if you allow yourself to spit at them and insult their parents?
I believe that there were provocateurs who provoked the crowd, the police officers. It will remain on their conscience. But because of their actions, people suffered — this is a fact.