A Russian anti-war activist has died in a detention center in the city of Rostov-on-Don after he allegedly complained of beatings and electric shocks, according to his lawyer. Anatoly Berezikov Berezikov was arrested after distributing leaflets advertising a Ukrainian government project called “I want to live” that helps Russian soldiers surrender voluntarily, Reuters reported, according to News.ro.

Iryna Gak, the lawyer of 40-year-old Anatoly Berezikov, said in a video posted on Facebook that her client’s lifeless body, which was supposed to be released on Thursday, was taken to the morgue on Wednesday. In the video, which was taken on Wednesday, Hak can be seen standing outside the detention center where Berezikov was being held as an ambulance arrives, which she said was for his body.

In the video, Gak claims that Berezikov complained about being beaten and electrocuted and said that he was afraid for his life.

Reuters was told in the pretrial detention center that they will not release any information about Berezikov.

The human rights monitoring group “OVD-Info” reported with reference to an unknown pre-trial detention center official that Berezykov committed suicide in his cell.

According to Iryna Gak, Berezykov was arrested after he distributed leaflets in the city advertising the Ukrainian government’s “I want to live” project, which helps Russian soldiers voluntarily surrender.

Rostov-on-Don is the capital of the region bordering eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia.

According to OVD-Info, almost 20,000 people have been detained for protests against Russia’s war in Ukraine since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, and criminal cases have been opened against more than 580 people.