"He thought it was a recruitment"

In St. Petersburg, the trial of the 18-year-old cadet of the Mozhaisky Military Space Academy Vadim Osipov, who was charged with terrorism due to the “plan to capture the barracks”, has been charged.

The cadet of the Mozhaisk Military Poprime Academy in St. Petersburg Vadim Osipov has been in jail from April 8, December 25, the court extended his detention for another six months. He is accused of preparing terrorist attacks and recruiting supporters, so he is facing a long prison term, up to life imprisonment.

Vadim Osipov, who loved books and films about spies since childhood, always dreamed of catching terrorists. After the explosion in the St. Petersburg metro, he painted the barracks plan, whose vulnerability before a possible attack was very bothered by him. The young man was so carried away by his thoughts that even in the lesson he continued to think about how to protect the barracks in which case - it seemed to him that he could be captured literally with his bare hands.

Such thoughts may seem strange only at first glance - in fact, in class with cadets, situations were constantly being worked out when it was necessary to “protect” this or that educational building, so the protection of its own barracks in this context looks like a continuation of such exercises. Nevertheless, the teacher of Vadim's leaflet seemed suspicious, he took him away and reported his suspicions of the special services.

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In St. Petersburg, a cadet is judged on charges of terrorism

When Vadim was arrested, employees at the FSB appeared in the cell. Vadim was delighted - because he himself dreamed of working there, catching spies and saboteurs, and these people, in accordance with his favorite books and films, seemed to him the embodiment of courage and honesty. He did not even have the thought that some danger could come from them-especially since they gave him the word, that their conversation would not go beyond the cell. Vadim was even more delighted - he decided that he was recruited, and decided to show himself in all its splendor. He said that, in his opinion, the actions of the terrorists could cause much more damage if they were better prepared. He showed what literature he studies to know the cuisine of terrorists and it is better to fight them.

Leningrad District Military Court

This ended tritely: the FSB officers accused of preparing for the terrorist attacks of the cadet itself. Osipova lawyer Vitaly Cherkasov considers the accusation absurd:

- Vadim is a victim of the next state campaign, when we are told on television that we are in the ring of terrorists and we must be vigilant and conduct counter -terrorist operations. The story of Osipov began just after the explosion in the St. Petersburg metro, then he caught the eye of the vigilant teacher. Of course, Vadim himself contributed to this with his youthful fantasies and dreams of a career as a saboteur. Having entered the Mozhaisky Academy, he quickly realized that he was in the wrong way, that he was waiting for a parquet, rear position. His friends in the Orenburg Cadet School were in a more privileged position, for example, in the Ryazan landing school, where there are special forces of the GRU, he was very envious of them.

Vadim Osipov

And when he caught the eyes of the FSB operatives, he imagined that he was recruiting - he knew that at the end of the military establishments of young officers were sometimes taken to the FSB - and decided that "this is his chance." They took advantage of his naivety, the holy faith that only honest and decent people are in their ranks. He was “commanded” - and they, in the language of the layman, he was “divorced”. He was assured that they were his friends and that their conversation would remain between them. They asked him - what would he do in the place of terrorists? And since he read the relevant books since childhood, he readily answered them that - yes, the terrorists screwed up, if they prepared better, then there could be more victims.

- Is this unfortunate plan of the barracks with the exercises that were held in the Mozhaik ?

- Yes, they received an “introductory” in the classroom - explained who occupies what position, explained that terrorists could look quite peaceful - for example, as workers who make repairs, then they went to the ground and already worked out this “introductory” there. He explains that he himself took up the fact that they worked out in the classroom, but he was guilty of independent thoughts. He has a very violent fantasy. And his attitude to this plan of the barracks can be considered in two ways - on the one hand, as the preparation of a serious special operation, and on the other hand, perhaps a child psychologist would immediately see this realization of children's fantasies. But everyone turned against him - as if he had a large -scale preparation for the attack. Until the recruitment of accomplices from among fellow students.

He has a very violent imagination

But again, in their testimony, none of the cadets said a word about the suspicions that they could be objects of recruitment. They noted that he had black humor - but it was just jokes, no one fled anywhere, did not report the danger. And only when several months of investigation have already passed, when witnesses were interrogated three or four times in the presence of the operative who muddied all this, they suddenly come in hollowing-now we understand that it was not jokes. Someone, apparently, "enlightened" them.

- So they changed their testimony?

- Among them there was one cadet, who is firmly standing in the original positions. Unlike the rest, he came to the school after the army - I believe that only he did not succumb. And he continues to say: "Osipov offered me nothing." Nevertheless, the organs previously rely even on its testimony! Screenshots from Osipov’s communication in social networks were introduced to the case - it is clear how young people communicate there - in slang, often trying to seem much more cynical than they really are. Here is a characteristic example: young cadets, who have just put on a military uniform, get acquainted with the situation, go to the audience, raise a tarpaulin canvas from the rack and blame several dummies of mines of various modifications. Naturally - they are boys - they grab these mines and begin to take a selfie with them. Osipov says that he put his leg on a mine and pretended that now everything will explode. But they were known for certain from the leader of the group that these are educational mines. These pictures scattered along social networks with all sorts of jokes about exploding - and now even this is charged with guilty. And I remember myself a young cadet - we also starred with bayonets and God knows what we portrayed when we were new. The FSB officers at first even tried to blame him for being in Ryazan and accepted Islam there - but this charges were now removed because it was proved that he had never been to Ryazan. And besides, he is a convinced atheist.

Lawyer Vitaly Cherkasov and Vadim Osipov

- What are the prospects of this case?

- The military courts entrenched the bad glory - that these courts seek to consider cases very quickly, often to the detriment of objectivity. In this situation, we only have hope that the situation is ambiguous, that in the bench of the defendants is a cadet with an excellent description, a citizen of his country, an orphan, who was behind bars as a result of a combination of difficult circumstances. We really hope to attract the attention of society and the media to this process, ”says Vitaly Cherkasov .

At the trial, Vadim Osipov is cheerful. He was very surprised when the prosecutors explained the need to keep him in a pre -trial detention center by the fact that he used to go to unauthorized leaves before. According to Vadim, all cadets periodically climbed into the hole in the fence to reach the nearest store, but now campaigns for dryers and chips are interpreted as the ability to escape and recruit terrorists. The next meeting is scheduled for January 8.