A notorious Russian nationalist living in Australia used an anti-vaccination rally to roar his support for Vladimir Putin just a day after he was released from jail.
Russian music was playing when Simeon Boikov, who calls himself the Australian Cossack and is on probation, took the stage at Martin Place in the Sydney CBD on Saturday, causing him to smile appreciatively.
Boykov was jailed in June for violating court orders for naming a suspected pedophile during an anti-vaccine rally.
Simeon Boikov, who calls himself the Australian Cossack, is pictured (holding a microphone) at a rally at Martin Place in Sydney in front of a crowd, some of whom carried pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin (lower left)
In a video taken when he was paroled on Friday, he said: “I’m not going to stop, I’m going to double down.”
He did not say what he intended to ‘double down’ on, but Boykov, 32, was likely referring to his support for Russia, Putin, the Ukraine invasion and anti-vaccine views.
Boykov, dressed in tight red and black shorts and a tight black T-shirt, recognized photos of Putin brought to the protest in support of him and Russia.
He then delivered a rambling 15-minute speech that included koalas, indigenous Australians, Harry Potter, good and bad prison guards, King Charles and politicians.
‘This country has beautiful flora and fauna, many interesting native species, protected species. Platypuses, koalas,” Boyikov said.
But there is one species in this country that is the most protected of all. That species is so protected that we can’t even name it.
He was referring to the 10-month prison sentence -of which he served less than three months- that he received for naming an alleged pedophile.
Boykov later shared that when he was in jail “we watched Harry Potter every Sunday night.” There was nothing on TV’.
Mrs Cossack aka Ekaterina Olshannikova aka Katia Boikova appears in the crowd at an anti-vaccine protest in Sydney’s Martin Place.
Simeon Boikov’s wife, Katia, appears in a photo he posted on the social networking site Instagram.
The crowd of about 100 protesters seemed taken aback by his TV-watching habits, so he sided with him again, thanking his Russian wife ‘Mrs. Cossack’ for showing ‘grace in the face of tyranny’.
In addition to Mrs. Cossack, his wife is also known as Ekaterina Olshannikova and Katia Boikova.
To show how difficult his brief time in jail was, Boykov said he had been held in the same wings as criminal gang members Hamzy and Alameddine.
“I was transferred in a bulletproof Land Cruiser, with my arms chained, with an orange jumpsuit, like Guantánamo Bay, and my legs chained. In fact, it was outrageous,” she said.
Simeon Boykov, also known as the Australian Cossack, is shown in handcuffs. He got out of prison last Friday
Boykov finally addressed the reason the small crowd had gathered in the first place.
“In the prisons, there were a lot of guys there because of the (Covid-19) mandates, because of the restrictions, because of government policy failures.”
He was also willing to share that he had gained a social conscience while incarcerated.
‘I want to greet all the indigenous brothers who are (in jail). It is a farce that the prison population is something like 35 per cent indigenous, where they represent two per cent or so of the population of Australia,” said Boyikov.
He then criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for an alleged lack of prior concern for Aboriginal people.
Simeon Boykov, who calls himself the Australian Cossack due to his support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, is pictured after his release from prison last Friday.
Boykov said the jail is “a revolving door” and that King Charles III should forgive people now that he is Australia’s head of state.
The mention of the new king is greeted with a mixture of applause and jeers.
“We all love Diana, God bless her soul,” he replied, referring to the first wife of King Charles, who died in a car accident in Paris in 1997.
But, King Charles, if you want to do something good, order a pardon. There are guys there for things like naming protected species,” Boyikov said.
‘Start your new rule with a reprieve for the boys in jail. The real criminals are not sitting in prisons, the real criminals are sitting in Parliament House,” he said to cheers.
‘These are the prisoners who are guilty of the crimes of genocide, guilty of the crimes of murder’ and guilty of leaving a five kilometer zone during confinement.
There was a crowd (pictured) of about 100 people at an anti-vaccination protest in Sydney on Saturday.
The crowd responded by chanting ‘hang them all’ and Boykov encouraged them to say it louder as he couldn’t hear them.
An anti-vaxxer with a loudspeaker interrupted to address Boykov and the crowd.
“Aussie Cossak, did you know that an Australian High Court judge said that the Australian government has no legal basis at all?” he said.
“And it’s on the record saying they’re all criminals and they all need to do justice for the crimes they’ve committed against the people,” he added, without any basis in fact.
“That’s it, and Nuremberg Two is coming up,” Boikov replied, referring to the Nazis’ trial after the end of World War II.
Boykov recognized the presence of former politician Craig Kelly in the crowd. Kelly, a Liberal turned United Australia Party MP, lost his seat in the federal election in May.
He then quoted former Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten, aka John Lydon.
John Lydon said so. The people who are now enforcing tyranny, the people who are now ruining Australian values, taking away freedoms, special prisons should be built for them,” he said.
There is no record of John Lydon ever commenting on Australian stocks.
Boykov claimed that he received more than 5,000 letters and postcards of support while in prison, which he said “was humbling, much appreciated.”
He then taunted the crowd that he would name a prison guard who was mean to him, but then thought he’d better not, since the last time he named someone on stage he was incarcerated.
“It’s actually funny, but there are a lot of prison guards who are very quietly, very sneakily supporting me,” he said.
Ekaterina Olshannikova, whom Simeon Boikov calls ‘Mrs Cossack’ photographed on the beach on Australia Day
But he said prison authorities accused him of radicalizing other inmates.
‘Radicalize with what? It’s not like he’s a Russian spy or anything,” Boyikov said.
He then gave another ‘shout out’ to his fellow convicted criminals, saying there were ‘a lot of good guys’ in jail.
Boykov then named NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Transport Minister David Elliot as very bad rulers, calling Mr Elliott a ‘grub’.
“Remember the first protest we had, when we marched and (Mr. Elliott) said it was a group of right-wing extremists, fools, worms,” he said.
‘How dare you call these mums and dads and these good, hard-working families, these Australians, those defamatory terms?’
He acknowledged that a former political supporter, Craig Kelly, was in the crowd.
A liberal turned United Australia Party MP with extreme anti-vaccine views, Kelly lost his seat in the federal election in May.
