Russia: 19 years in prison for anti-military mobilization action

A Russian court sentenced Monday to 19 years in prison a former soldier and a former rescuer who had thrown Molotov cocktails at a town hall to protest against the mobilization to fight in Ukraine. 

This is the heaviest sentence handed down so far for this type of attack against official buildings, which have multiplied across Russia since the start of the offensive against Ukraine.

The two men, Roman Nasryev and Alexei Nuriev, were convicted by a military court in Yekaterinburg (Urals), in particular for “act of terrorism” in an organized gang, the state news agency TASS said.

According to investigators, in mid-October, Roman Nasryev and Alexei Nuriev, who then worked respectively in the National Guard and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, had broken a window on the ground floor of the Bakal town hall during the night, a small town in the Chelyabinsk region.

They then threw several incendiary bottles there, without causing any casualties or major damage to this building, which also housed a military census office.

The two defendants did not deny the facts, but rejected any act of terrorism, claiming to have wanted to denounce the military campaign in Ukraine.

“I only wanted to show that in our city there are people against the mobilization and the” special military operation “” in Ukraine, indicated Mr. Nuriev during the trial, quoted by the NGO Zona Solidarnosti.

The two men, longtime friends, played together in a rock band, according to Russian media.

Dozens of similar anti-war attacks on public buildings have been reported in Russia since the start of the offensive in Ukraine, but the charges and sentences handed down have so far been less severe.

The Russian authorities have equipped themselves with a large legislative arsenal to punish the voices opposed to the offensive. Hundreds of activists or simple anonymous who have expressed their disagreement have already been sentenced to fines or prison terms.