Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
He was detained when he travelled to Russia to visit his father.
Love knows no borders. Whether it’s a lover, a family member, a dear friend, or someone else, millions of people around the world cross national borders every day to see and hug the ones who mean something special to them.
Usually, entering a country to visit someone you love goes smoothly, but things can go wrong quickly. In today’s tense political climate, a quick trip home can easily transform into a terrifying legal nightmare that ends in a closed courtroom.
A harsh lesson that a Russian man with Belgian citizenship has just learned.
A sudden trap
According to the independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta, the trouble for Mikhail Loshchinin, a 48-year-old Russian citizen with Belgian citizenship, started at the border.
After his father, who lives in Russia, suffered a heart attack, Loshchinin decided to visit him in the summer of 2025. He started his motorcycle and began his journey.
He never arrived. Russian authorities stopped him at the Ubylinka checkpoint between Latvia and Russia on July 1, according to news outlets Pervy Otdel and ASTRA. Border guards searched his phone and detained him.
Investigators focused heavily on his digital footprint, discovering messages and money transfers to his ex-girlfriend in Ukraine. To the authorities, these transfers appeared to constitute a serious crime.
Officials formally labeled the transfers as “the provision of financial assistance to representatives of a foreign state in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation.” This accusation changed everything.
Held with prisoners
The 48-year-old IT specialist faced immediate isolation. Security forces moved him to the Belgorod region, where his family said he was held alongside Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Conditions inside were brutal. According to ASTRA, Loshchinin eventually signed a confession after being beaten, kept in isolation, and having his glasses taken away, his family said.
By August 2025, prosecutors had formally charged him with high treason. They then transferred him to a pretrial detention center in Pskov to await a trial behind closed doors.
Fading health and hope
The long months in custody severely damaged his health. One of his eyes now has only 10% vision, his sister told ASTRA.
Before his arrest, Loshchinin lived quietly in Germany and worked in Luxembourg. He loved music. He often played guitar and helped organize community concerts for Russian speakers living abroad.
According to Novaya Gazeta, the Pskov Regional Court handed down a crushing 16-year sentence in a maximum-security prison colony.
Sources: Pervy Otdel, ASTRA, Novaya Gazeta
