Summary of anti-war repressions. Three years of full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. February 2025

Criminal cases due to arson of military registration and enlistment offices, administrative buildings, railways and other objects

The burning of military registration and enlistment offices, especially in the first year of the war, was not so much a way to cause real damage to the military machine, but an expression of despair over the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Mediazona, in the first months, from February to November 2022, 75 arson attacks on military registration and enlistment offices, administrative buildings and other objects occurred in Russia due to anti-war protests. Moreover, from February 24 to September 21 - before the announcement of partial mobilization - 34 arson attacks were committed, and after September 21, in a little more than a month - 41 arson attacks.

• One of the first well-known cases is the case against Moscow resident Kirill Butylin, who in March 2023 was sentenced to 13 years in prison under articles on terrorism (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 enmity (Part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, on February 28, 2022, Butylin threw several Molotov cocktails into a military registration and enlistment office in the Moscow region. On March 8, the VataHunters telegram channel published a video of the attack and the arsonist’s manifesto, in which he spoke out against Russia’s war in Ukraine. On the same day, the man was detained on the border of Lithuania and Belarus, when, according to security forces, he was planning to leave for Ukraine to fight on its side.

In 2023, there were much fewer arson attacks on military registration and administrative offices and administrative buildings for anti-war reasons; a significant proportion of attacks were committed by victims of scammers. A massive wave of arson occurred at the end of July - beginning of August 2023; during that period, at least 37 attacks provoked by scammers occurred, Mediazona calculated. In 2024, scammers organized at least 92 attacks on various targets, 65 attacks occurred from December 13 to December 27.

As a rule, those who set fire to military registration and enlistment offices for anti-war reasons are charged with committing a terrorist act. In some cases, other serious charges and new charges are added to the charge, for example, participation in the Azov battalion or attempting to join the Ukrainian army, which allows the courts to impose long prison terms on the defendants.

• In May 2024, Novosibirsk resident Ilya Baburin was sentenced to 25 years in prison with the first five years to be served in prison due to the failed arson of a military registration and enlistment office. Initially, he was charged only with the article of attempted organization of a terrorist act (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code 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 in technical means for secretly obtaining 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 organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and a terrorist attack (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code).

Victims of fraudsters are usually charged with intentional damage to property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code). In some cases, those involved in such cases are charged with committing a terrorist attack or attempting to commit one, despite the fact that they did so unintentionally.

• In January 2025, 76-year-old St. Petersburg resident Galina Ivanova was sentenced to ten years in prison for setting fire to a car parked near a military registration and enlistment office. The woman was found guilty in the case of a terrorist attack that resulted in significant property damage (clause “c” of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code).

Another category of cases related to arson are cases of damage to railway infrastructure. Initially, the arsonists assumed that this would help slow down the movement of trains that deliver weapons to the Russian military. In this case, no real damage was caused to military supplies, or civilian transport was also damaged.

By October 2023, since the beginning of the war, at least 137 people had become involved in such cases, and in total at least 76 had been opened, Mediazona estimated .

By 2024, most of these arson attacks began, as follows from official materials, to be carried out for money. The targets of such arsonists are no longer only the railway, but also energy facilities, power line supports and others. According to approximate data from OVD-Info, in 2024 and in the first two months of 2025, 202 people were involved in cases of arson and explosions, of which at least 62 were minors.

In addition, at the end of 2022, several new criminal articles were introduced into the Criminal Code:

• Article 281.1 - assistance in sabotage activities;
• Article 281.2 - undergoing training in sabotage activities;
• Article 281.3 - creation of a sabotage community and participation in it.

In 2024, security forces began to initiate criminal cases under these articles. Thus, they appeared in the case of Ukrainian Sergei Karmazin, who, according to security officials, set fire to two automation cabinets in the Moscow region. Initially, he was only charged with committing sabotage (clause “a”, part 2 of article 281 of the Criminal Code). However, during the year he was also accused under articles of espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code), 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 using 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 Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code), preparation for a terrorist attack (Part 1, paragraph “a”, Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code), training in terrorism (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code). In March, Karmazin was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with the first six years to be served in prison.

In some cases, as the defendants themselves and their lawyers report, criminal cases may be opened after provocations from the Russian special services. As a rule, security forces contact activists and opponents of the war, introduce themselves as employees of the Ukrainian special services or military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and ask to set fire to an infrastructure or administrative facility for a financial reward or other incentive, for example, a residence permit in European countries. The provocation is indirectly confirmed by the fact that some of the defendants are detained on the way to the place of the alleged crime. It is impossible to count how many similar criminal cases have been opened, but dozens of similar cases are known.

• In June 2023, a resident of Yaroslavl, Valeria Zotova, was sentenced to six years in a general regime colony under the article of attempted terrorist attack (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) - according to the security forces, the girl tried to set fire to a collection point for humanitarian aid for Donbass “on instructions from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” In July, the girl’s defense said that she was persuaded to attempt arson by FSB officers who corresponded with her on behalf of SBU officers. One of the main witnesses for the prosecution was her friend Karina, who persuaded Zotova to agree to the proposal of the security forces. In court, she said that she participated in an operational investigative event, which she called an “operational experiment.”

Treason and espionage cases

In July 2022, a new article appeared in the Criminal Code - on confidential cooperation with a foreign state or organization (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’s side.” New wording was also added to the article on espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code) - it also began to be understood as the transfer, collection, theft or storage of information in conditions of an armed conflict or military operations “for the purpose of transferring it to the enemy.”

In December 2024, the State Duma adopted amendments in the second reading, which, according to human rights activists, will make it possible to initiate more criminal cases of treason and espionage. The document specifies the concept of “enemy”: they propose to include international and foreign organizations that “directly oppose the Russian Federation” in an armed conflict. By going over to the enemy’s side they propose to understand “voluntary participation in the activities of government bodies, institutions, enterprises, and organizations of the enemy, knowingly directed against the security of the Russian Federation.” The amendments also propose introducing a new article into the criminal code - 276.1 on providing assistance to the enemy in activities against Russia. The punishment for it will be from 10 to 15 years.

According to the First Department, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, 792 people have been involved in cases of high 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). Since February 2022, 536 people have been convicted in similar cases, and in 2024 - 359 people. According to OVD-Info, at least 30 of them are residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine. It is likely that most of these criminal cases are related to the Russian invasion.

Articles on treason and confidential cooperation with a foreign state are charged against anti-war activists, as well as those who helped the Ukrainian army. Espionage is charged against residents of the occupied territories of Ukraine who did not receive Russian passports: according to investigators, they passed on information about the Russian military to the Ukrainian army.

• In August, Kherson resident Irina Gorobtsova was sentenced to ten years and six months in a general regime colony for espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code). During the occupation, the woman 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 security forces. The criminal case of espionage against the Kherson woman became known only in March 2024. According to security officials, she transmitted data to the Ukrainian military about the movements of the Russian army in the Kherson region.

Due to attempts to join the “Freedom of Russia” legion or the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), the defendants may be charged with both high treason and an article on participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). In some cases, detainees may be charged under two articles at once. The defendants may be prosecuted not for preparing to participate in hostilities, but for other acts. For example, Nemtsov Bridge volunteer Evgeniy Mishchenko is being persecuted because of correspondence with the legion, in which he offered his summer cottage for the placement of missile launchers and expressed his readiness to monitor Russian military facilities. After that, he allegedly filmed a military airfield in Kubinka and sent the materials to the legion. In October, Mishchenko was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with the first three years to be served in prison.

Russian courts impose long prison sentences in such criminal cases. More “lenient” sentences are imposed under the article on confidential cooperation with a foreign state or in cases where the crime is considered unfinished.

Cases against captured Ukrainian military and civilians

Criminal cases are brought against prisoners of war not only on possibly falsified charges of war crimes, but also because of the very fact of their military service.

The largest such case was brought against 9 women and 17 men who are accused of serving in the Ukrainian Azov battalion. They are accused under articles of forcible seizure of power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code) and of organizing the activities of a terrorist organization or participating in it (Parts 1 and 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). Another 11 men are charged with undergoing terrorism training (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code). Another defendant, Alexander Ishchenko, died in July 2024 in a Russian pre-trial detention center due to rib fractures, closed blunt chest trauma and shock. In August, the prosecution asked for 16 to 24 years in prison for the defendants. In September, the women and two men were returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange.

In 2024, security forces began to open 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 Vitaly Panchenko and Ivan Dmitrakov to 15 and 14 years in prison, respectively. The men were accused of committing a terrorist attack by prior conspiracy (clauses “a” and “c” of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, Panchenko and Dmitrakov, who served in the 61st separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, illegally crossed the Russian border on August 7 and “repeatedly opened fire to kill both Russian military personnel and civilians.”

There are also civilian prisoners in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine—civilians who are being held by Russian authorities without charge. According to estimates by the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, Dmitry Lubinets, Russia may be holding up to 28 thousand Ukrainian civilian hostages, while there is reliable data on only about 1,700 people. After some time, some civilians are charged with espionage, high treason, preparations for sabotage and terrorist attacks against the Russian military and occupation authorities.

Cases of 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 brought to the courts. Criminal cases are initiated against such military personnel under articles on failure to execute an order (Article 332 of the Criminal Code), unauthorized abandonment of a unit (Article 337 of the Criminal Code) and desertion (Article 338 of the Criminal Code). According to Mediazona, 1,037 cases were initiated under the article on failure to execute an order (Article 332 of the Criminal Code), and 683 cases under the article on desertion (Article 338 of the Criminal Code). In 2024, Russian courts received a record 10,308 criminal cases against those who refused to serve in the Russian army. This is almost double the number in 2023, when the courts registered 5,517 cases of similar cases.

In most cases, it is unknown why the military refuses to participate in hostilities. Some explain their decision by incompetent leadership, reluctance to participate in hostilities, or other reasons. Little is known about conscientious objectors for religious or ideological reasons.

• In 2023, believers Maxim Makushin , Vyacheslav Reznichenko and Andrei Kapatsyna were sentenced to different terms. They were all convicted under the article on failure to comply with a superior’s order given during combat operations (Part 2.1, Article 332 of the Criminal Code). The men refused to participate in hostilities.
• In October 2024, former senior lieutenant Dmitry Vasilets was released on parole, who refused to return to the front after leave for religious reasons. In April, he was sentenced to two years and five months in a penal colony under the article of failure to comply with an order from a superior given in the context of an armed conflict or hostilities (Part 2.1 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code). Later on appeal the term was reduced by three months.

As Mediazona found, in such cases, 40% of convicts receive suspended sentences, which allows the authorities to return them to military service. At the same time, convicts sentenced to real terms also sometimes return to the combat zone. In such cases, they are recruited for war from prison.

Torture of defendants and deaths during detention

Persons involved in such cases often talk about torture by security forces. As a rule, security forces resort to such practices in order to obtain confessions. Some defendants already at the stage of judicial investigation recant their words, reporting that they incriminated themselves under torture. According to OVD-Info, at least 34 cases are known in which detainees spoke about torture.

At least seven people died during detention or investigation. One of them, anarchist Roman Shvedov, committed suicide on December 18, a few hours after he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in the case of arson of an administration building in the Rostov region. Another seven people died during the arrest: six of them, according to security forces, resisted FSB officers, another died due to a self-detonation of an explosive device.

Administrative Affairs

Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (discrediting the army)

Number of cases brought under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (“Discreditation”) by year