Leonid Pshenichnov works on the conservation of marine resources. Russia arrested him because his research obstructs the Kremlin's interests in Antarctica.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has now extended as far as Antarctica. The Kremlin has arrested Leonid Pshenichnov, a Ukrainian biologist, accusing him of obstructing the country's economic interests in Antarctica, particularly in relation to his research opposing krill fishing, the small crustaceans widespread in the region. Pshenichnov has been charged with high treason because his residence is in Crimea, the Ukrainian territory unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014. He is therefore regarded by the Kremlin as a dissident Russian citizen. The international scientific community has reacted strongly to the arrest, and a petition calling for his release has been launched to be sent to Moscow.
Leonid Pshenichnov is a 70-year-old Ukrainian marine biologist. His decades-long research career has focused on the conservation of marine resources in the Antarctic Ocean and Arctic regions. Since the 1990s he has conducted research for the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Ccamlr) on behalf of Ukraine, working in particular on fish biodiversity and the setting of sustainable fishing quotas.
In recent years his scientific work has highlighted the need to establish marine protected areas in Antarctic waters, in order to halt the overexploitation of krill, the small crustacean that forms the base of the food chain in the Southern Ocean. In 2014 Russia invaded and unilaterally annexed Crimea, the Ukrainian region where Pshenichnov lives. This forced him to apply for Russian citizenship in order to continue his research activities, both locally and abroad. It is now this detail that has led to his arrest.
Leonid Pshenichnov was arrested while he was about to leave for Australia, where he was due to take part in a conference on the protection of Antarctic marine wildlife. According to documentation seen by the British newspaper The Guardian, the researcher was accused of siding with the enemy — given that at the Australian conference he would have been working with the Ukrainian team — and of using his research to obstruct Russian krill fishing, which is an extremely lucrative trade in the country.
Ccamlr is in fact discussing a proposal — which Pshenichnov himself supported — to create a marine protected area around the Antarctic Peninsula to protect krill, after the 2025 fishing season for the crustacean in the area reached levels described as unsustainable, with Russia and China at the forefront of this activity. A total of 620,000 tonnes were caught, and for this reason it was decided to close the fishing season ahead of schedule.
Pshenichnov's arrest has provoked widespread protests from the scientific community and international diplomacy. The European Union is also monitoring the situation and has called, through several of its member states, for the release of the Ukrainian researcher. He has been described as the "first political prisoner of Antarctica", even though his detention is in fact taking place in prisons in Crimea.
