The basis for the criminal case were comments in one of the chats, recognized by security forces as extremist materials in May 2021.
According to Alexander's acquaintances abroad, in May 2023, after the criminal case had already been opened, he left for Poland, where he stayed for about a month. Then his elderly mother called him and said that an investigator had called her and threatened to search for her son. It was promised that if Kulikov returned, he would be given a punishment that did not involve imprisonment.
After some time, Kulikov decided to return to Belarus and was detained. He stopped communicating while crossing the border. Another administrative violation protocol was drawn up against him (Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and a criminal case was opened. On July 13, 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Mogilev found the Mogilev resident guilty and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment with referral to a general regime colony.
In December 2023, it became known that Kulikov was going to be tried again. This time, he is accused of three articles: participation in an extremist group (Article 361, note 1, part 3), participation in an armed group or armed conflict on the territory of a foreign state (Article 361, note 3, part 1), and undergoing training or other preparation for participation in extremist activity (Article 361, note 5). On December 22, the press service of the Moscow Regional Court reported that on December 20, Kulikov was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Together with the previous punishment, the total term of imprisonment for the man will be 4 years and 6 months of imprisonment in a general regime.
On December 12, BT aired a propaganda film about Kulikov, who talks about his attempt to join Kastus Kalinovsky's regiment and about undergoing military training near Kiev.
In March 2024, it became known that the prosecutor appealed the sentence of political prisoner Alexander Kulikov from Mogilev, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. According to the court's decision, he was given an additional year and a half to his term .
On 01.07.2024, a trial was held to replace Alexander's regime and he made the decision to transfer the political prisoner to prison regime .
