Russia’s State Duma approves tougher penalties for armed rebellion

Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has adopted the first reading of a bill that would punish organisers and active participants in an armed rebellion more harshly, allowing them to be handed a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, the Duma announced on Tuesday.

The bill amends Russia’s current law on armed rebellion, which states that the organisation or active participation in an armed rebellion is punishable by 12 to 20 years in prison.

The new bill introduces three degrees of liability for those involved in an armed rebellion, with organising or leading a rebellion punishable by between 15–20 years imprisonment, taking part in a rebellion would lead to between 12–20 years in jail, while life imprisonment would be reserved for those leading a mutiny that resulted in death or “other serious consequences”.

The bill also provides for those accused of mutiny to be exempted from criminal liability if they “voluntarily and promptly” cooperate with the authorities to prevent further damage to Russia’s interests.

The original amendment was submitted to the State Duma in July, just over a year after the armed uprising led by Wagner Group co-founder Yevgeny Prigozhin started on 23 June 2023. The rebellion saw Wagner mercenaries seize the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don before announcing a “March of Justice” to Moscow, where the group said they intended to remove Russia’s then-Defence Ministry Sergey Shoigu.

The Wagner rebellion was stopped in its tracks when Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko intervened, acting as a mediator in negotiations between Prigozhin and the Kremlin. By the evening of 24 June, Prigozhin had agreed to withdraw his mercenaries to Belarus.

While Wagner fighters involved in the mutiny did not face criminal charges at the time, Prigozhin and several of his associates, including the Wagner Group commander Dmitry Utkin, died in a plane crash in the Tver region just two months later.