Benes Ayo

Benes Khristoferovich Ayo (Russian: Бенес Христоферович Айо, Latvian: Beness Aijo; born 8 June 1979), also known by his nickname "Black Lenin" (Russian: Чёрный Ленин), is a Latvian-born Russian National Bolshevik activist and soldier. He has been active in the National Bolshevik movement since 1998 and has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his political activities in various countries. Born in the city of Riga to a Russian mother and a Ugandan father, Ayo spent most of his early life in Latvia before moving to the United Kingdom to pursue his master's degree at Birkbeck College, University of London. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) during his time in London and participated in many of the party's demonstrations. In 2014, Ayo travelled to Crimea to support the Russian annexation of the peninsula. He later participated in pro-Russian demonstrations in the Donbas before being arrested by Ukrainian authorities and deported to Latvia. Ayo fled Latvia in 2015 despite being under criminal investigation and police surveillance. He eventually made his way to the Luhansk People's Republic, where he joined The Other Russia's paramilitary group, the Interbrigades. He later received a passport from the Donetsk People's Republic, which he used to enter Russia in early 2020. The Russian government granted Ayo political asylum in October 2020 and Russian citizenship in December 2022. The Latvian government revoked Ayo's Latvian citizenship in response to the latter.