"An average Russian with an average income": a friend of the "hacker" Alexei Burkov spoke about his life before his arrest in Israel

- How long have you known Burkov?

“About twelve years old.” We met abroad, where we had a rest with our girls. Then they continued to communicate at home, in St. Petersburg, and became very friends.

- You, too, are somehow connected with programming, or did you have other common interests?

- I have nothing to do with this - I work in the construction industry. We did not particularly discuss his work, but I understand that this is not for the reason that he hid something, that he was engaged in something illegal.

- So you don’t know exactly what exactly Alexey earned?

- He had different orders related to web design. He, too, somehow helped the site to do. In addition, he bought abroad phones, tablets and cameras, and then sold them in St. Petersburg in small wholesale and retail.

• vk.com

- Experts with whom some Israeli media communicate say that Burkov was almost the number one hacker in Russia. They say that he appeared on the network under the nickname 0day, and then he didn’t go to Israel at all to relax, but to advise a local bank on the security of computer systems ...

- I read this nonsense and laughed. Alexei went to Israel to establish relations with the girl Dasha - she wanted to go there. Moreover, then I also flew to them for several days - this was a surprise. We rested together. I flew home earlier, and Lesha was detained at the airport.

- They say that Alex led the luxurious life of a hacker who stole millions from Americans' credit cards ...

- He led a modest lifestyle. Alexey had neither expensive watches, nor cars, nor real estate. Look at those photos that I posted on social networks — people who steal millions do not live like that. So lives an ordinary Russian with an average income. He lived in a small studio in the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg, traveled by public transport. Lyosha helped my mother, who lives in Nefteyugansk. But if he was a successful con man, he probably would have transferred her to Peter. But he could not afford it.

“Have you been in contact since you arrested him?” How did he explain the situation to you?

“Of course, he calls me regularly.” Lyosha really didn’t understand what exactly he was suspected of, so there were no details.

• vk.com

“You yourself, after such a sudden arrest of a friend, are not afraid to fly abroad?”

• vk.com

- No. We even flew to Israel with several friends and held a rally there, demanding the release of Lesha.

- Tell us more about Alexey. What kind of person is he?

- He is open, sincere and strong. I am delighted that for four years in prison he did not break down, but rather continued to develop in prison, reading books and playing sports.

- What do you think about the possibility of exchanging Alexei for Israeli Naamu Issahar?

- For me it was great joy the news that Alexei had a chance to return to Russia. Knowing him for many years, I understand that US accusations are absurd.

As RT previously reported, Russian Alexei Burkov has been in an Israeli prison for almost four years. He was arrested at the request of the United States in December 2015. In the fall of 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court approved his extradition to the United States.

All this time, the extradition has been sought by Burkov, the Russian side, however, the request of the Prosecutor General of Russia for extradition in Israel has not yet been considered.

Relatives of the Russian, in turn, told RT that they asked Russian diplomats to start negotiations on a possible exchange of Burkov for Israeli citizen Naamu Issahar, who was detained at a Moscow airport in the spring of 2019 and sentenced to seven and a half years in a general regime colony on charges of drug smuggling.

After the publication of RT in the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they said that such an exchange is impossible, since the Russian should be extradited to the United States by decision of the Supreme Court. But for the extradition to take place, this decision must be signed by Israeli Minister of Justice Amir Ohana. In an interview with Israeli media, Ohana said he would make a decision in the coming days.

After the sentencing of Issachar, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent appeals to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking him to have mercy on the girl.