[1] Born in a working-class family, Oleksandr Kolchenko worked as a loader at the post while studying tourism management at the geographic faculty of Tavrida National University in Simferopol.

He staged numerous street protests against manifestations of fascism in the region, and participated in clashes with both Ukrainian and pro-Russian far right.

He also organized actions of solidarity with Russian antifascists who fell victims of the neo-Nazi terror or government repression, including Anastasia Baburova and Ivan Khutorskoy.

He was convicted of arson of the offices of Russian political organizations and planning the bombing of the Soviet Memorial monument in Crimea.

Despite his left-wing and antifascist affiliations, he has been accused of belonging to the Ukrainian ultranationalist organization Right Sector and of plotting terrorist attacks.

The accusation against Kolchenko and Sentsov is primarily based on evidence given by two other so-called "Crimean terrorists", Chyrniy and Afanasyev, broadcast on Russian television.

[5][6] The attack was committed at night when the participants understood the office to be empty and there was no intention to put anybody's life in danger.

According to the human rights organization Memorial, similar attacks on party offices in Russia to this date have been punished as arson or "hooliganism" and not as terrorism.

Right Sector itself has released a press statement stating that the four individuals considered by Russia as "Crimean terrorists" have nothing to do with the party.

A number of organizations, including the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,[22] and the Memorial Human Rights Center[23] have recognized Oleksandr Kolchenko as a political prisoner.

[26] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine urged the Russian Federation to immediately release Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko.