Russian anarchist on trial for terrorism says confession was extracted under torture

Russian anarchist Ruslan Sidiki, who is currently on trial for allegedly attacking a military airbase and blowing up a freight train in Russia’s western Ryazan region, has claimed that he was tortured into confessing his guilt, Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Thursday.

Prosecutors allege that in February 2023 the 36-year-old dual Russian-Italian citizen was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence to undertake “sabotage training in Latvia” before returning to Ryazan the following month where he went on to carry out a drone strike on a nearby military airbase and detonate an explosive device on a local railway line. He has been charged with terrorism.

According to Mediazona, while Sidiki has admitted carrying out the actions, he has categorically refused to call them “terrorist attacks”, stressing that his goal was to damage Russian military targets, not to harm civilians.

“It was important for me to avoid civilian casualties, given that my original goal was to damage a military infrastructure facility and a train carrying military cargo,” he said.

Sidiki alleges he was severely beaten and tortured while in pretrial detention, including with high-voltage electric currents from a stun gun and the wires from a military telephone.

“When I was lying on the floor, they stepped on my arms and legs so that I couldn’t move them … An electric current went through my body, I screamed loudly and banged my head on the floor, one of them stood in front of me and filmed me on his phone,” Sidiki said.

“These people put a bag over my head with a small hole, handcuffed my hands behind my back, and lifted me up by the handcuffs … I was without sleep, food, or water for more than a day, and my body was in so much pain, it was hard for me to breathe,” Sidiki told Mediazona.

According to Sidiki, he planned the acts on his own, without accomplices, and did not undergo any training, nor did he plan any subsequent attacks.