The Orel Regional Court sentenced a 23-year-old resident of Oryol, accused of setting fire to cell phone towers, to 14 years in prison. This was reported by the press service of the court and the regional prosecutor's office . According to investigators, in April 2025, “experiencing financial difficulties,” the young man met an unknown person via messenger.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov unit, Sergei Samokhval and Vladislav Zarzhitsky. Mediazona was told about this by the press service of the court. Azov has been declared a terrorist organization in Russia. Zarzhitsky was found guilty of undergoing training for the purpose of terrorism and participating in a terrorist organization. He received 18 years in a maximum security colony. Sergey Samokhval.

Three administrative protocols were drawn up against Muscovite Nelli Gaprindashvili after a single picket in the Alexander Garden in the center of Moscow on January 21. According to the press service of the Moscow courts, on one of them - disobedience to the police - she was arrested for 15 days. The protocols also included articles on violation of the procedure for carrying out the action and “discrediting” the army. According to them, the court imposed a fine totaling 60 thousand rubles.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced 65-year-old former deputy of the Starobelsky City Council Alexey Kozachok to 8 years in a general regime colony. Mediazona was told about this by the press service of the court. He was also fined 30 thousand rubles. He was found guilty of participation in a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code) and illegal possession of explosives (Part 1 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code).

The International Fencing Federation (FIE) has transferred to France the rights to host the 2026 European Fencing Championships, which previously belonged to Estonia. The reason is the refusal of the Estonian authorities to issue visas to athletes from Russia and Belarus, Secretary General of the Estonian Fencing Federation (EVL) Aivar Paalberg told Õhtuleht. Novaya Gazeta Europe drew attention to the publication.

The Central District Court of Prokopyevsk fined 66-year-old pensioner Vladimir Sugakov 100 thousand rubles in a case of “LGBT propaganda.” The regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported this the day before; Mediazona found the case file on the court’s website - the protocol was reviewed on August 14, 2025. Judging by Sugakov's VKontakte page, he holds conservative views, supports the invasion of Ukraine and sharply criticizes LGBT people.

The press service of the bookstore chain “Chitay-Gorod-Bukvoed” confirmed to Mediazona that in several regions of Russia administrative cases were opened against their structures for selling five novels. During the winter, the legal entity of the Read-Gorod network drew up at least seven protocols on “LGBT propaganda” - in Yoshkar-Ola , Chita , Izhevsk , Nalchik and Ryazan .

The Prosecutor General's Office recognized the WhiteBIT crypto exchange, founded in 2018 by businessman from Kharkov Vladimir Nosov, as an “undesirable organization.” The department indicated as a basis that the exchange “actively supports the Armed Forces of Ukraine”: “In 2022, the WhiteBIT management transferred a total of about $11 million to them.

The criminal court of the Namangan region of Uzbekistan sentenced a local resident under the article on mercenarism due to participation in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. As the Uzbek publication Podrobno.uz writes , citing a court decision, the man received three years and six months of restriction of freedom. According to the case file, in 2021 the man, whose name was not named, went to Russia to earn money.

The administration of the Higher School of Economics (HSE), in response to a request from human rights activist Artem Klyga, said that it offers students who are at risk of expulsion to sign a regular contract to be sent to the war in Ukraine.

In the Ulyanovsk region, two students were sent to a pre-trial detention center in connection with an attempt to set fire to a cell phone tower. As Ulyanovsk Online writes with reference to the regional department of the FSB, the young people acted “on the instructions of an unknown curator.” The FSB claims that the students made homemade incendiary devices, and the arson was supposed to take place in the city of Ulyanovsk.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Ukrainian prisoner of war Mikhail Igumentsev to 20 years in prison in a terrorism case. Mediazona was informed about this by the press service of the court. The Ukrainian’s case came to court at the end of October 2025. Igumentsev, like many other captured Ukrainians, was charged with two counts: participation in a terrorist community and training in terrorism.

Judge of the 1st Western District Military Court Alexey Olmezov sentenced 38-year-old Petrovsky College employee Anna Osipova to 10 years in prison on charges of terrorist attack (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code) due to the arson of a police department. Mediazona became aware of this. Prosecutor Anna Govera asked to sentence Osipova to 13 years in prison.

The Investigative Committee in St. Petersburg opened a murder case in a local shopping center, where, after being harshly detained by private security company officers, a 24-year-old man died of suffocation. This was reported by the press service of the Investigative Committee. The conflict occurred on the evening of January 21 in the City Mall shopping center in the Primorsky district of the city. According to police, security suspected the 24-year-old man of theft and tried to detain him.

United Russia member Vasily Piskarev and four other deputies from his security committee introduced a bill that should speed up the Ministry of Justice's checks under the law on “foreign agents.” There are currently two amendments. Thus, in the very law on “foreign agents” (clause 2 of part 9 of article 10), deputies proposed to stipulate that the Ministry of Justice should receive responses to requests from public authorities, banks and other financial organizations within three days.