Russian student receives nine-year prison sentence for ‘incitement to treason’ after allegedly trying to persuade Russians to join Ukraine’s Armed Forces

Russia’s Western Military District court sentenced Andrey Vasyurenko, a student from Russia’s Republic of Karelia, to nine years in a penal colony for “incitement to treason,” reports news outlet RBC.

The court found the student guilty of coercing terrorist activities and preparation for incitement to treason by defecting to the enemy’s side. Vasyurenko will spend the first 2.5 years of his sentence in a prison, and the rest in a high-security penal colony.

The student was arrested in Karelia in March 2023, when he was 18 years old. Human rights activists from Department One wrote that Vasyurenko became the first person to be arrested for this form of treason.

According to the investigation, between May and November 2022, the student allegedly tried to coerce Russian citizens to join Ukraine’s Armed Forces and to participate in combat. RBC’s sources said that the student’s actions were unsuccessful.

The outlet also wrote that Vasyurenko “adhered to nationalist views” and supported Karelia’s independence, according to law enforcement.