On June 5, the Central District Military Court (with a permanent presence in Samara) sentenced 40-year-old resident of Sarapul (Udmurtia) Yegor Zhitnikov to three and a half years in a general regime penal colony in a case of justifying terrorism and calling for it on the Internet (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the court's press service, and Mediazona drew attention to the release.
The man's prosecution was based on several comments posted on a public page. Three of them, the press service claims, contained "signs of calls" to commit crimes under the article on seizing power or changing the constitutional order (Article 278 of the Criminal Code).
In another comment, Zhitnikov wrote about the breakthrough of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station in June 2023. Russia considers the incident a "terrorist act" committed by "members of Ukrainian military formations," and, according to the investigation, the defendant in the case "reliably knew" the Russian Federation's point of view on this matter. It is alleged that "on the same day, Zhitnikov, in a similar manner, published a text comment containing a statement about recognizing the ideology and practice of terrorism as correct, in need of support and imitation."
In June last year, Zhitnikov was added to the list of “terrorists and extremists ” of Rosfinmonitoring.
Mediazona journalists were unable to find the comments that the man is accused of; several of his pages on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte have been abandoned. In 2019, administrative protocols were drawn up against the man for distributing extremist materials (Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and for displaying prohibited symbols (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The Sarapul City Court returned the first of them to the police, and transferred the second one to the district court according to jurisdiction. The further fate of the administrative cases is unknown.
- Since February 24, 2022 — the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — residents of Russian cities have been taking part in anti-war protests and talking about the tragedy online every day. Anti-war speeches and statements are becoming grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 900 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protests against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
- After the war in Ukraine began, the Russian authorities began to react sharply to protest sentiments. The list of articles under which those speaking out against the war are prosecuted is quite broad. The defendants in "anti-war cases" are often charged with hooliganism, vandalism, violence against government officials, and other violations. Articles introduced into the Criminal Code after the start of military operations also became a significant element of pressure - the dissemination of "fakes" about the Russian army and discrediting the armed forces.