Persecution of the anti-war movement report: Three Years into Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine. February 2025
Arson of military recruitment offices, especially in the first year of the war, was not so much a way of inflicting real damage to the war machine, as it was an expression of desperation stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Mediazona, in the first months of the war — from February to November 2022 — there were 75 arson attacks on military recruitment offices, administrative buildings and other facilities in Russia motivated by anti-war protest. Furthermore, 34 of those arsons were committed between 24 February and 21 September — before the announcement of the partial mobilisation — while after 21 September, 41 arsons were committed during a little more than a month.
- One of the first known cases is the case against the Moscow resident Kirill Butylin, who was sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment for committing a terrorist act (Article 205 of the Criminal Code), public calls for terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and vandalism motivated by political hatred (Part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code) in March 2023. According to the investigation, on 28 February 2022 Butylin threw several Molotov cocktails at the military recruitment office in the Moscow region. On 8 March, the telegram channel «Vata-Hunters» («ВатаХантеры» in Russian) published a video of the attack and the arsonist’s manifesto, in which he spoke against Russia’s war in Ukraine. On the same day, the man was detained at the border of Lithuania and Belarus — when he was about to leave for Ukraine to fight on their side, according to law enforcement.
The year 2023 saw far fewer arson attacks on military recruitment offices and administrative buildings motivated by anti-war sentiment, and a significant share of the attacks were committed by victims of fraud. A massive wave of arson attacks occurred in late July and early August 2023: at least 37 fraudster-induced attacks were committed during that period, as counted by Mediazona. In 2024, fraudsters organised at least 92 attacks on various objects, 65 of which occurred between 13 and 27 December.
As a rule, people who set fire to military recruitment offices with anti-war motives are charged with committing a terrorist act. In some cases, other serious articles and new charges are added to the charge, such as participation in the Azov Battalion or attempting to join the Ukrainian army, which allows courts to impose long prison sentences.
- In May 2024, Novosibirsk resident Ilya Baburin was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment with the first five years to be served in prison for a failed arson attack on a military recruitment office. He was initially charged only with an attempt to organise a terrorist act (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 33 of the Criminal Code). Later, Baburin was also charged with treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code), illegal trafficking of technical means for covert acquisition of information (Article 138.1 of the Criminal Code), participation in an illegal armed formation (Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code), participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and committing a terrorist act (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code).
As a rule, victims of fraud are charged with intentionally damaging property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code). In some cases, the defendants in such cases are charged with committing or attempting to commit a terrorist act, despite the fact that they did so unintentionally.
- In January 2025, Galina Ivanova, a 76-year-old woman from St. Petersburg, was sentenced to ten years in a penal colony in the case of arson of a car parked near a military recruitment office. The woman was found guilty in the case of a terrorist act causing significant property damage (Point «c» of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code).
Another category of arson cases involves damage to railway infrastructure. Initially, the arsonists assumed that this would slow down the movement of trains that deliver arms to the Russian military. However, either no real damage was done to military supplies, or damage was also done to civilian transportation.
From the beginning of the war to October 2023, at least 137 people were charged in such cases, and at least 76 such cases were initiated overall, as estimated by Mediazona.
By 2024, the majority of such arsons, as follows from official materials, had begun to be committed in exchange for money. Such arsonists are no longer targeting just railways, but also energy facilities, electricity pylons and other sites. According to approximate data from OVD-Info, in 2024 and in the first two months of 2025, 202 people were charged in cases of arson and explosions, with at least 62 of them minors.
In addition, several new criminal articles were introduced into the Criminal Code at the end of 2022:
- Article 281.1 — Facilitating sabotage activity;
- Article 281.2 — Receiving training for sabotage activity;
- Article 281.3 — Establishing a sabotage community and participation in it.
In 2024, law enforcement officers began to initiate criminal cases under these articles. For instance, they appeared in the case of the Ukrainian citizen Sergey Karmazin, who, according to law enforcement, set fire to two relay boxes in the Moscow region. Initially he was charged only with the article on committing sabotage (Part 2 «a» of Article 281 of the Criminal Code). However, within a year he was also charged under the articles on espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code), receiving training in sabotage activities (Article 281.2 of the Criminal Code), preparation for the manufacture of explosives (Part 3 of Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code), participation in a sabotage community (Part 2 of Article 281.3 of the Criminal Code), participation in a terrorist community (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code), preparation for a terrorist act (Part 1 «a» of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and terrorist training (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code). In March, Karmazin was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment with the first six years to be served in prison.
In some cases, as reported by the defendants themselves and their lawyers, criminal cases may be initiated following provocations by Russian intelligence services. As a rule, law enforcement officers contact activists and opponents of the war, present themselves as members of the Ukrainian intelligence services or soldiers of the AFU and ask them to commit arson of an infrastructure or administrative facility in exchange for financial reward or other incentives, such as residence permits in European countries. The provocations are indirectly confirmed by the fact that some of the defendants are detained on their way to the place of the alleged crime. It is impossible to count the number of such criminal cases that have been initiated, but we are aware of dozens of such cases.
- In June 2023, Valeria Zotova, a resident of Yaroslavl, was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony for attempting to commit a terrorist act (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). According to law enforcement, the woman tried to set fire to a humanitarian aid collection point for Donbas «on the orders of the AFU». In July, her defence said that she had been provoked to commit the attempted arson by FSB officers, who exchanged messages with her on behalf of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officers. One of the main witnesses for the prosecution was her friend Karina, who had persuaded Zotova to agree to the law enforcement officers’ proposal. In court, she said that she participated in an operational-investigative activity, which she called an «operational experiment».
Cases of Treason and Espionage
In July 2022, the Criminal Code was expanded with a new article on confidential cooperation with a foreign state or organisation (Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code), and the maximum penalty for treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) increased to life imprisonment. The article also introduced a new form of treason — «switching to the enemy side». A new wording was also added to the article on espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code): now it also includes a transfer, collection, theft or storage of information in conditions of armed conflict or military operations «with the aim of transferring it to the enemy».
In December 2024, the State Duma adopted in the second reading amendments that, according to human rights activists, will allow the authorities to initiate more criminal cases of treason and espionage. The document specifies the concept of an «enemy»: international and foreign organisations that «directly oppose the Russian Federation» in an armed conflict. Switching to the enemy side should also include «voluntary participation in the activities of government agencies, institutions, enterprises and organisations of the enemy, knowingly directed against the security of the Russian Federation». These amendments also propose to introduce a new article into the Criminal Code — Article 276.1 on assisting the enemy in its activities against Russia. Punishments under this article will range from 10 to 15 years.
According to the data of Department One («Pervy otdel» in Russian), since the beginning of the Russian invasion, cases of treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code), confidential cooperation with a foreign state (Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code) and espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code) have been initiated against 792 people. Since February 2022, 536 people have been convicted in such cases, with 359 people convicted in 2024 alone. According to OVD-Info data, at least 30 of them are residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine. Most of these criminal cases are likely related to the Russian invasion.
Articles on treason and confidential cooperation with a foreign state have been applied against anti-war activists and those who helped the Ukrainian army. Residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine who did not obtain Russian passports are being charged with espionage: according to the investigation, they passed information about Russian soldiers to the Ukrainian army.
- In August, the Kherson resident Iryna Horobtsova was sentenced to ten years and six months in a general regime penal colony for espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code). During the occupation, she helped local residents with food and medicine, wrote posts in support of the Ukrainian military and hung a Ukrainian flag at home. In May 2022, Gorobtsova was kidnapped by Russian law enforcement officers. Information about the criminal case of espionage against her emerged only in March 2024. According to law enforcement, she passed data on the movements of the Russian army in the Kherson region to Ukrainian servicemen.
Defendants may be charged with both treason and participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) for attempts to join the Freedom of Russia Legion or the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC). In some cases, they may be charged under both articles at once. They may face prosecution for actions other than preparing to participate in military action. For example, the Nemtsov Bridge volunteer Yevgeny Mishchenko is facing charges for his messages exchanged with the legion, in which he offered his dacha (summer cottage) plot for the placement of rocket launchers and expressed his willingness to monitor Russian military facilities. He then allegedly filmed a military airfield in Kubinka and sent the materials to the legion. In October, Mishchenko was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment with the first three years to be served in prison.
In such criminal cases, Russian courts impose long prison sentences. More «lenient» sentences are imposed under the article on confidential cooperation with a foreign state or in instances where the offence is considered incomplete.
Cases against Ukrainian Military and Civilian Prisoners of War
Criminal cases against prisoners of war are initiated not only on possibly trumped-up charges of war crimes, but also because of the very fact of their military service.
The largest such case was initiated against 9 women and 17 men, who are charged with serving in the Ukrainian Azov battalion. They are charged with violent seizure of power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code) and organising the activities of, or participating in, a terrorist organisation (Parts 1 and 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). Another 11 men are charged with training to carry out terrorist activities (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code). Another defendant, Alexander Ishchenko, died in Russian pre-trial detention in July 2024 due to rib fractures, blunt chest trauma and shock. In August, the prosecution requested sentences ranging from 16 to 24 years for the defendants. In September, the women and two men were returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange.
In 2024, law enforcement officers began initiating criminal cases against Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered during the offensive in the Kursk region. In December 2024, the 2nd Western District Military Court in Moscow sentenced Ukrainian servicemen Vitaliy Panchenko and Ivan Dmytrakov to 15 and 14 years in prison, respectively. The men were charged with committing a terrorist act by prior agreement (Parts 2(a) and 2© of Article 205 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, Panchenko and Dmytrakov, who served in the 61st Separate Mechanised Brigade of the AFU, illegally crossed the Russian border on 7 August and «repeatedly opened fire to kill Russian servicemen as well as civilians».
Civilians are also held captive in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine — they are peaceful citizens detained by the Russian authorities without any charges brought against them. According to estimates by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) Dmytro Lubinets, Russia may be holding up to 28,000 Ukrainian civilian hostages, though verified information is available only on around 1,700 people. Some civilians are later charged with espionage, treason or preparing acts of sabotage and terrorism against Russian soldiers and the occupying authorities.
Cases Relating to Refusal to Serve in the Russian Army
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 16,120 cases related to refusal to serve in the Russian army have been filed in courts. Such servicemen have criminal cases initiated against them for failure to comply with orders (Article 332 of the Criminal Code), unauthorised abandonment of a military unit (Article 337 of the Criminal Code) and desertion (Article 338 of the Criminal Code). According to Mediazona, 1,037 cases have been initiated for failure to comply with orders (Article 332 of the Criminal Code) and 683 cases for desertion (Article 338 of the Criminal Code). In 2024, Russian courts received a record 10,308 criminal cases against people who refused to serve in the Russian army. This is almost twice as many as in 2023, when courts registered 5,517 such cases.
In most cases, the reasons why soldiers refuse to participate in military actions are unknown. Some explain their decision by incompetent leadership, reluctance to engage in combat or other reasons. Little is known about objectors on the grounds of religion or ideology.
- In 2023, the believers Maksim Makushin, Vyacheslav Reznychenko and Andrey Kapatsyna were sentenced to various terms. They were all convicted for failure to comply with an order of their commander during a military operation (Part 2.1 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code). The men refused to participate in military actions.
- In October 2024, former senior lieutenant Dmitry Vasilets who refused, for religious reasons, to return to the front line following his vacation, was released on parole. In April, he was sentenced to two years and five months in a settlement colony under the article on failure to comply with an order of the commander given in the context of armed conflict or military operations (Part 2.1 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code). Later, his sentence was reduced by three months on appeal.
Mediazona found that 40% of individuals convicted in such cases receive suspended sentences, which allows the authorities to return them to military service. At the same time, individuals convicted to actual prison terms are sometimes also sent back to the combat zone. In such cases, they are recruited to fight directly from places of detention.
Torture of Defendants and Deaths in Detention
Defendants in such cases often report torture by law enforcement. Typically, law enforcement officers resort to such practices in order to obtain confessions. Some defendants already retract their statements at the stage of judicial investigation, saying they had testified against themselves under duress. According to OVD-Info data, at least 34 instances of detainees reporting torture have been documented.
At least seven people have died during detention or investigation. One of them, the anarchist Roman Shvedov, committed suicide on 18 December, just hours after being sentenced to 16 years in a colony for setting fire to a government building in the Rostov region. Another seven people died during detention: six of them, according to law enforcement, allegedly resisted FSB officers, and one died from a self-detonating explosive device.