An activist from Kherson who burned his Russian passport has died

Ivan Simochkin, an activist and volunteer from Kherson who shared stories about life in a frontline city through his posts and livestreams, has died after a long and serious illness.

Journalist Dementiy Bilyi reported this.

“A kind, bright person with an interesting personal story. An extraordinary blogger,” Bilyi wrote.

According to Bilyi, he read Simochkin’s posts and sketches from frontline Kherson with great interest and watched his livestreams. Bilyi believes that his illness was a direct consequence of the war. After all, Ivan was essentially living on the front lines, under constant stress and under shelling.

On October 15,Simochkin himself reported that he had been admitted to a private clinic. He called this the first major breakthrough in his treatment and shared on social media that doctors had performed the initial procedures, including draining fluid from his abdominal cavity. 

<picture></picture>PHOTO: Ivan Simochkin/Facebook

According to him, this was a necessary step in preparing for treatment of his cancer, specifically liver cancer.

At that time, the man thanked everyone who had contributed to the fundraising effort for his treatment and noted that the fight was just beginning.

Simochkin served as the press secretary for the Kherson regional branch of “European Solidarity,” the organization reported. He was known for his sharp and incisive posts, in which he chronicled life in Kherson during the war, particularly under Russian shelling.

Ukrainian media had previously reported on his story. For over 30 years, the Kherson native held Russian citizenship, but eventually came to hate that country. After the war began in 2014, he did everything he could to regain his Ukrainian citizenship. He succeeded one month before the full-scale invasion.

After many years living in Moscow, Simochkin returned to his native Kherson and reinstated his Ukrainian citizenship. Even during the occupation, he remained in the city, burned his Russian passport, and declared that he recognized only his Ukrainian citizenship.

Ірина Глухова