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A Russian deserter who leaked a Defense Ministry database of military hospitals has been found hospitalized in France with memory loss, according to an Oct. 22 report by the independent outlet Ekho.
The man, identified as Alexei Zhilyaev, is a former military medic who provided journalists with a database from the Main Military Medical Directorate of Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD). Ekho cited sources saying Zhilyaev had not been in contact for several months. Then, around two weeks ago, it was discovered that he was in a hospital in serious condition. He is reportedly unable to walk and has partially lost his memory. Doctors have ruled out poisoning, but the cause of his condition remains unclear.
Zhilyaev had previously spoken frequently with the media. He said he went to the front as a volunteer in late 2023 to serve as a medic and joined an evacuation unit that recovered the wounded and dead from the battlefield. Afterward, he decided to desert. In August 2024, Zhilyaev left Russia with the help of the Idite Lesom (“Get Lost”) project and applied for asylum in France. The project’s representative, Ivan Chuvilyaev, said Zhilyaev suffered from post-traumatic stress and financial difficulties.
During his escape, Zhilyaev took with him a flash drive containing a database from the MoD’s Main Military Medical Directorate. It includes information on 166,000 patients who passed through military hospitals in Russia and in annexed Crimea. Journalists from Radio Liberty confirmed the authenticity of the data.
In October, French authorities arrested four people suspected of plotting an assassination attempt on Vladimir Osechkin, the founder of the human rights project Gulagu.net. The suspects, aged 26 to 38, included a mix of French and Russian citizens. They have been charged with participating in a terrorist organization with the intent to commit crimes against individuals.
The most high-profile case of this kind occurred in February 2024 in Spain, where another Russian deserter, pilot Maxim Kuzminov, was shot dead in the resort town of Villajoyosa. Kuzminov had defected by flying a Mi-8 military transport helicopter from Russia to Ukraine and handing the aircraft over to Kyiv’s armed forces. According to a report by the independent investigative outlet Important Stories, two men are suspected in the killing: Sergei Goremyko, a 74-year-old former KGB officer, and Vasily Goremyko, a 47-year-old police lieutenant colonel.
Ekho (lit. “Echo”) is a Russian-language independent media outlet that emerged from the legacy of the radio station Ekho Moskvy (lit. “Echo of Moscow”).
In March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities ordered Ekho Moskvy’s website blocked and removed its broadcast license, pointing to its alleged involvement in the spread of “false information” about the military and its alleged “calls for extremist activity.” After the shutdown, former staff relocated abroad and launched Ekho.