ОХЛОБИСТІН Іван Іванович
ОХЛОБИСТИН Иван Иванович
OKHLOBISTIN Ivan Ivanovich

He systematically supports russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, russia's annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, putin's policies and the kremlin regime, and declares his readiness to personally fight against Ukraine. He publicly expresses his support for the so-called "DPR" and its leaders. In November 2016, he filed an official application for citizenship of the so-called "DPR" and received a passport personally from the so-called "head of the republic" Zakharchenko. In 2022, he supported russia's invasion of Ukraine and organized the "patriotic" flash mob "Work, brothers". He is known for his aggressive anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. In particular, he states that the US and the EU are to blame for the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, advocates the preservation of "brotherly ties" between russians and Ukrainians, supports the annexation of Crimea to russia and military aggression against the Ukrainian people, calls Ukraine a historical incident, states that the Ukrainian cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa are russian territory, and Ukrainians are "the same russians, just Nazis." He is a permanent member of the Izborsk Club, a community of experts in the study of russian foreign and domestic policy, one of whose key tasks is "to promote the formation of a powerful political and ideological coalition of patriots-statesmen, an imperial front that opposes manipulations in russian politics by foreign centers of influence and the ‘fifth column’ from within the country." He was putin's confidant in the 2024 presidential election. He participated in the congress of the group that nominated putin for a new presidential term in December 2023. He regularly delivers humanitarian aid to the russian military personally. He was awarded the humanitarian badge "Donbass Volunteer" by the occupation authorities in 2016, the medal "Participant of the special military operation in Ukraine. For Courage" medal, the medal ‘For Participation in the Special Operation for Denazification and Demilitarization of Ukraine’ in 2022, the medal ‘Konstantin Simonov’ of the russian Ministry of Defense in 2023, the Order ‘For Merit to Zaporizhzhia Region’ of the first degree in 2023 "for significant personal contribution to the formation of the information space of Zaporizhzhia region, promotion of a positive image of the region, active civic position and patriotism", the Order of Friendship of the so-called ‘DPR’ in 2024 ‘for services to the people of the DPR and the government of the republic’, the medal ‘For Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the russian Cossacks’ in 2024 ‘for active support of the russian Orthodox Church, Cossacks defending the homeland and civilians on the front line of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as for patriotic and spiritual and moral education of young people’. Okhlobystin's son is directly involved in russia's war against Ukraine.