In 1990 he graduated from the Cherkasov Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography, workshop of Arkady Katzman and Lev Dodin.

He was a member of the United Civil Front in St. Petersburg, the participant Dissenters.

On 10 March 2010 he signed the appeal of the Russian opposition "Putin must go".

On 18 November 2011, in his Live Journal blog Devotchenko announced that he refused the title Honored Artist of Russia and the two State Prizes of Russia, and called on cultural figures to boycott events that support the Russian government.

On 5 November 2014, Alexei Devotchenko was found dead in a pool of blood in his apartment in Moscow.