Nikita was arrested and convicted of throwing a Molotov cocktail at military personnel on August 10, 2020, according to investigators. The prosecution claimed the bottles were hidden and given to him by Leonid Kovalev with the intention of setting fire to a building, bus, or police van. Nikita refused to testify, denied guilt, and reported physical and psychological pressure in pretrial detention. He was 16 years old at the time of his arrest and suffers from epilepsy.
In July 2021, he was convicted again under the article on "violence or threat of violence" for an incident with pretrial detention facility staff. In June 2022, Nikita was transferred to an adult prison colony upon turning 18, and in August of that year, his sentence was increased, relegating him to a prison regime.
In July 2024, the political prisoner was tried for "malicious disobedience to the prison administration"—a charge often applied to prisoners who refuse to cooperate with the administration.
On March 19, 2026, he was released after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Lithuania.
