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The Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan has extended the sentence of Nikolay Lekomtsev, an engineer from Tatarstan, by a year in a case regarding participation in an extremist organisation (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by “Otkrytoe Prostranstvo” (Open Space).

In January, the Naberezhnye Chelny City Court sentenced Lekomtsev to two and a half years in a penal colony. Taking into account time already served in pre-trial detention, he was due to be released on 7 June—now his release may not happen until the end of May 2026.

According to investigators, the man posted “propaganda materials” from the banned extremist organisation “Artpodgotovka” in a closed Telegram channel and private chat, “promoted the ideas of a violent change of government and the foundations of the constitutional order in the Russian Federation, and portrayed the conduct of the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine negatively.” Allegedly, he coordinated the actions of like-minded people using this Telegram channel.

You can support Nikolay Lekomtsev by sending him a letter through our ‘Vestochka’ service or by mail to:

Remand Prison No. 5, Tatarstan, Chistopol (a town in Tatarstan), 1V Karl Liebknecht St., 422980,
Nikolay Vasilyevich Lekomtsev, born 1989

  • On 5 November 2017, in various Russian cities, supporters of Vyacheslav Maltsev, who runs the popular YouTube channel “Artpodgotovka,” took to the streets because he had promised that a revolution would happen on that day. According to OVD-Info, in the wake of this “revolution,” criminal cases were initiated in at least 10 cities against at least 35 people, including under terrorism charges. (source)
  • The “Artpodgotovka” movement was designated as extremist on 26 October 2017.