He was a 10th-grade honours student practicing karate and engaging in social activism. A Telegram channel dedicated to Balazeikin [reports](https://t.me/politzekinfo/2891) that he initially supported the war, but then changed his position, as his perspective shifted after his uncle died there. According to his mother, who managed to speak to him following his detention, she recounted his words on TV Rain [a Russian independent TV channel], stating that he wanted to do something because he was "seeing how many people were dying". On February 28, 2023, he was arrested for the attempted arson of the military recruiting office in Kirovsk and Kirovsky district of the Leningrad region. According to the investigation, the young man threw a "Molotov cocktail" at the door of the military recruiting office, but the bottle did not explode. Initially, the case was initiated under the article on intentional destruction or damage to property (Art. 167 of the Criminal Code), but later the article was changed to attempted terrorist act (Part 1 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code). Additionally, another case was opened against Balazeikin in connection with an attempted arson at another military recruiting office of Krasnogvardeysky district in St. Petersburg. At first, another case under the article on damage to property was reported, but apparently, this information was not confirmed. The first written explanations were taken from Balazeikin in the absence of his parents. Then the teenager was taken into custody. FSB [Federal Security Service] officers who visited Balazeikin in the pre-trial detention cell said that they could beat him, rape him or send him to a psychiatric hospital. Balazeikin's father [was fired from his job](https://ovd.news/express-news/2023/04/11/otca-figuranta-antivoennogo-dela-uvolili-s-raboty-posle-togo-kak-tuda). On August 7, 2023, it was reported that the teenager's health deteriorated in detention due to worsening liver fibrosis caused by autoimmune hepatitis. Since the first sessions in court were held at a fast pace and for many hours, the lawyer raised concerns about the violation of Balazeikin's rights, as the defence team had no opportunity to communicate with him confidentially. On October 25, the court postponed the sessions indefinitely. On November 22, 2023, Balazeikin was sentenced to six years in an educational colony. The medical commission refused to grant him disability status. In June 2024, the documents required for his transfer to an educational colony were missing from the pre-trial detention centre where Balazeikin was being held. He would be unable to get permission to make calls, and his parents would not be able to get permission for visits without these documents. Eventually, Balazeikin was transferred to the colony. He was first placed with other prisoners in the basement during his transfer to the pre-trial detention centre in Vologda, where he had a long stopover. There, the former Wagner Group member promised to kill him. Balazeikin was then transferred to a separate cell with many fleas and bedbugs, and he spent six days there with no water or functioning toilet. Throughout the transfer process, he was denied essential medications. In August 2024. it was reported that the colony staff labelled him a terrorist, provoking him to talk about military actions and telling him about NATO and the banderovites. Balazeikin was forced to write a statement that he did not want to be in an educational colony until the age of 19 and asked to be transferred to a penal colony, forbidding his lawyer to appeal his decision. In addition, the colony staff prepared a report, according to which he regularly violates internal rules and regulations, is prone to terrorist and extremist activities, has a detrimental effect on other prisoners and is dangerous to juvenile prisoners. In September 2024, the court sent Balazeikin to an adult colony. It turned out that the court was guided by the report from the educational colony, where the prisoner was described on the positive side (easily connected with unfamiliar teenagers, communicated politely with the administration, did not engage in conflicts, participated in maintaining the facility's grounds, was emotionally mature, balanced, tidy, and kept his sleeping area in order). Still, the conclusion stated that he was characterized negatively. On November 25, 2024, Balazeikin was granted a third-degree disability status for 1 year.