May 21, 2024

One Flower For Every Month In Prison


One Flower For Every Month In Prison
Maykop, the capital of Adygea. NJCHCI, Wikimedia Commons.

In December 2023, 18-year-old Kevin Lik became the youngest person convicted of espionage in Russia. The Russian-German citizen, who was 16 at the time, was accused of taking pictures of military bases and sending them via email to a foreign power. Sota visited his mother's house in Maykop, Adygea Republic, to see where the teenager lived.

Victoria had not entered Kevin's room until Sota visited her. A calendar with colorful illustrations on the closet was still open on the page for December 2022. On his bed were ecology certificates, frog drawings, documents of enrollment in university chemistry and biology courses. The room is filled with encyclopedias. Kevin kept a herbarium with local samples that he packed into a suitcase.

The bed is covered in diplomas from multiple language contests in English and German. He won an All-Russian German Language Olympiad in Moscow, for which he received an award of R200,000 from Murat Kumpliov, head of the Adygea Republic. A newspaper on the bed features a picture of him shaking hands with the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government, Dmitry Chenyshenko.

Lik was born in Montabaur, Germany, in 2005. His parents separated when he was a year old. His mother, Victoria, a caretaker of elderly people, yearned to return to Russia. In 2017, the Lik family moved to Maykop, the capital of Adygea and a bankrupt industrial town of 140,000 with a military base. Now, Victoria regrets that decision.

In the summer of 2022, Victoria wanted to return to Germany with her fiancee. Victoria applied for a short-term visa and Kevin went to the German Embassy in Moscow to receive a stamp confirming that he lived in Adygea. Kevin and his mother got plane tickets and began packing.

In February 2023, Victoria was summoned to the military enlistment office. She needed to obtain a seal saying that Kevin had been removed from the military register due to his permanent residence in Germany, which had been refused the day before. She was detained at the facility for multiple hours and then held in administrative detention for allegedly using obscene language. She was taken for a medical examination and spent 10 days in detention. 

On February 23, 2023, the Lik family was about to fly from Sochi to Frankfurt Am Main via Istanbul. Victoria told Sota that, on that day "We had just left the hotel [and] walked about 20 steps. A gray minibus stops. People surround us, start filming, and say that Kevin is accused of treason and we are detained."

A state-appointed lawyer insisted that Kevin plead guilty. After long hours of interrogation, the exhausted 16-year-old succumbed to the pressure. Victoria cannot discuss her son's trials, since she signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Victoria was "far from politics." But, after her son's imprisonment, she began meeting other imprisoned teenagers' parents. Victoria only eats when friends come over. Kevin, who is only allowed to receive visits twice a month, is frustrated that he could not finish tenth grade. The teenager has been deprived of his calculator and textbooks in prison. He has been beaten up by his cellmate.

There are flowers on the window sill. Kevin asked his mother to add one every month he is in custody. This month there are 15.

 

You Might Also Like

Student Sentenced for Spying
  • January 03, 2024

Student Sentenced for Spying

For the first time, Russia has sentenced a student for spying. The 18-year-old was a high-achieving student.
Espionage on Ice
  • July 03, 2023

Espionage on Ice

Poland has arrested a Russian hockey player for espionage.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955