“A disaster almost happened in Adzhimushkay”; “A public figure tried to set himself on fire at a memorial complex”; “The museum director called the man who threatened to set himself on fire sick”...

Last week, Kerch news portals were openly confused: how to report the news that a well-known activist of the “Crimean Spring,” a tireless ally of the occupiers and educator of “patriotic youth,” doused himself with gasoline on the doorstep of his own coffee shop and threatened to light a match?

Mikhail Perepelitsyn was a well-known figure in Kerch even before the occupation. The former boxer was friends with the local authorities, who in the early 2000s allowed him to build a coffee shop on the territory of the East Crimean Museum-Reserve. It was a busy place, especially since the establishment was located next to the Adzhimushkay Quarries complex. In the spring of 2014, his friendship with Ukrainian officials came to an end: Perepelytsyn ardently supported the occupiers and joined the ranks of the Crimean Self-Defense Forces. Athletes were highly valued there, especially boxers.

The first “stones from the sky” were not long in coming. The new authorities refused to allow Perepelitsyn to privatize the land under the café, as it was built on a protected area. But the “friendly” entrepreneur agreed with the museum director, Tetyana Umrikhina, who promised that despite the difficulties with the land plot, she would not interfere with the work of the establishment. Perepelitsyn tried to please the occupiers as best he could: he financed the opening of public toilets on the territory of the reserve, donated his collection of weapons to the museum, and in November 2022 even founded the Dobrynya military-patriotic center and was very proud when his trainees went to fight against Ukraine.

However, the occupying authorities did not appreciate these efforts. The verbal agreement on the operation of the café was initially reinforced by short-term lease agreements. Until this year, when it was remembered that this was not allowed under Russian law. In the summer, Perepelitsyn was asked to leave his own building. The entrepreneur tried to “sort things out” in many official offices, but to no avail. And when, in early September, the reserve asked him to hand over the keys to the establishment, Perepelitsyn arrived there with a bottle of fuel. The show was not very well attended. The main audience consisted of police officers, firefighters, and medics, who for some reason had gathered at the cafe before the show began. They listened with interest to stories about Umrikhina's betrayal, about the businessman's desperate situation, about his dream in which three pigeons flew out of a funnel under a shell with ribbons in the colors of the Russian flag in their beaks... Then Perepelitsyn's acquaintance, local deputy Mikhail Andropulo, advised him “not to provoke,” promised to “resolve everything,” and everyone dispersed. 

Why Perepelitsyn was satisfied with this promise was not understood in Kerch. "For several months, the most influential person in the city went to all the authorities and could not do anything, and then - hop - he believed the word of a deputy who has no power at all. Seriously?" one of the Kerch residents said with a smile in a conversation with CEMAAT immediately after the failed self-immolation. The next day, Sergey Cherednichenko, acting director of the East Crimean Reserve, commented on the situation. He stressed that there was no question of extending cooperation and that “the Russian legal system has sufficient tools to resolve the most complex disputes, not only economic but also moral and ethical.” In particular, the reserve's management was outraged that “personal attacks and unfounded accusations” against Tatyana Umrikhina had become part of the events. The reserve's legal department promises to challenge these insults in court. At the same time, they intend to seek the initiation of criminal proceedings against Perepelitsyn, as he “endangered the health and lives of people who came to pay their respects to those who died in the struggle to eradicate fascism on our land.” 

The Russian patriot, defender of the “Crimean Spring,” and active “public figure” could spend up to seven years behind bars. Or repeat the path of one of his like-minded people. Konstantin Yermakov, the organizer of the first pro-Russian rallies on the peninsula, was also unable to fit into his dream reality. He was framed with drugs, sentenced to 11 years, and sent from prison to “SMO” (Special military operation - Ed.). There, Yermakov was killed during one of the bloody assaults.