Russian pol detained for 'illegally' crossing U.S.-Mexico border

High ranking Russian politician, 31, is caught trying to illegally cross into the US at Mexico border after criticizing Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine

• Russian politician Viktor Kamenshchikov was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol for illegally crossing the United States-Mexico border
• A source told Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti that the 31-year-old had been detained recently
• Kamenshchikov submitted his resignation to the Communist Party on February 27, three days after Russian troops invaded Ukraine
• He said to be the father of a child who has United States citizenship by birthright 

A Russian politician who vehemently opposed his country’s invasion of Ukraine, was recently detained at the United States-Mexico border for ‘trying to illegally enter the US.’

Viktor Kamenshchikov, 31, was a Communist Party member who served as a deputy at the Vladivostok Duma parliament in the eastern Russia region of Primorsky, until February this year.

He filed an application to leave the party two days after he shared a furious post  about the invasion on February 25, in which he called Russia the ‘fascist aggressors’ and said their ‘worthless army will run in fear’ from the Ukrainians they were invading.

It’s unknown when Kamenshchikov fled Russia and traveled to Mexico, although he has not been seen publicly or attended any parliamentary hearings since speaking out against Putin’s invasion.

He has now been arrested at the US-Mexico border.

A source told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that ‘it is not yet known’ why Kamenshchikov was arrested but ‘presumably for an illegal border crossing.’

Kamenshchikov reportedly has a child who is a United States citizen by birthright.

DailyMail.com contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment.

Viktor Kamenshchikov, who was a delegate of the Vladivostok Duma parliament in the eastern Russia region of Primorsky, was reportedly taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents after he illegally crossed the United States-Mexico border. The Communist Party member rejected President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

Viktor Kamenshchikov, a Russian politician who is reportedly in U.S. custody after he was intercepted for illegally crossing the border from Mexico, slammed the government’s decision to invade Ukraine in a Facebook post February 25, two days before he submitted an application to resign from the Communist Party 

Residents in the Ukrainian village of Mala Rogan near Kharkiv assist a police officer in carrying a body bag during the exhumation of bodies said to be Russian soldiers on Wednesday

The Russian invasion, the biggest military conflict in Europe has forced 6.3 million Ukrainians to flee while the country’s military forces have caused Russia to lose some ground in some areas.

Kamenshchikov initially shared his outrage over the invasion on Facebook – a brave move considering Putin has made opposition to the war punishable with arrest and imprisonment.

In March, the Russian parliament passed a law imposing a prison sentence of up to 15 years on anyone disseminating ‘fake’ news about the military.

Putin’s opponents also have a history of disappearing.

But that didn’t stop Kamenshchikov posting on February 25 – one day after the invasion began: ‘I consider this an outrage. No to war – everywhere.

‘But didn’t you howl about Crimea? Didn’t you shout: ‘Protect the Russians?’ The war didn’t start on February 24th. And not in February 2014 (and) not even August 2008. It started when your sick heads formed the idea that Russians are better than others … You are the fascist aggressors.’

‘Every Ukrainian will fight for his country. Despite the language, views and status. Fight to the total defeat of the occupier,’ Kamenshchikov wrote while adding, ‘your worthless army will run in fear, as it should on a foreign land.’

Viktor Kamenshchikov, a Russian politician who reportedly was arrested for illegally crossing the United States-Mexico border, according to Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti

Russian deputy  Viktor Kamenshchikov opposed President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. The military conflict is the biggest in Europe since World War Two and has forced more than 6.3 Ukrainians to flee their country

An elderly woman rests inside a subway station in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Thursday

Firefighters clear rubble at a destroyed cultural center that was being used to provide humanitarian aid before it was bombed by Russian air forces May 12 

Kamenshchikov filed a petition to abandon the Communist Party on February 27, three days after Russian troops started conducting what Putin called a ‘special military operation.’

At the time on the invasion, he told Kommersant newspaper that ‘I do not agree with the position of the party leadership’ for backing the assault and the deployment of soldiers ‘on the territory of a neighboring state.’

He added: ‘I am against war in principle.’

‘Don’t call me a hero because I defiantly left the party,’ he said. ‘People in Ukraine are waking up at night from the explosion of bombs. I am really ashamed to discuss this issue.’ 

Kamenshchikov told sibreal.org on March 5 that Communist Party leader Gennady Zyungano and the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who was the leader of the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, knew in advance of Putin’s war plans. 

‘Most Russians don’t understand that by keeping silent, they increase their own long-term losses,’ Kamenshchikov told sibreal.org.

According to CBP data, border patrol agents reported 2,898 encounters with Russians illegally crossing the border in March and April.

U.S. Border Patrol agents reported 2,898 encounters with Russians illegally crossing the border in March and April

Ukrainian refugees attempt to enter the United States at the San Ysidro border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, after being told that no more buses would be transporting people to the border on April 24

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