Search
At the 1st Western District Military Court in St Petersburg, the case of Andrei Voronin, a resident of Samara, has begun to be heard. He is accused of justifying terrorism (Part 1, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (subparagraph “d,” Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) because of conversations with his cellmates. This was reported by the 'Word to the Defence' project.
In April 2021, Voronin was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The new criminal case was prompted by incriminating statements from his cellmates. According to 'Word to the Defence', one of them made a video with Voronin. In the video, Voronin said that to stop the war in Ukraine “you have to shoot Putin,” and called Putin a “Nazi.”
No other details about the case against Andrei Voronin are currently available.
In April 2021, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced the Samara resident to 12 years' imprisonment, with the first three years to be served in prison and the remainder in a strict regime colony. He was also fined 50,000 roubles (around US$550).
The court found Voronin guilty under articles on terrorism (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code), using violence against a public official (Part 1, Article 318 of the Criminal Code), insulting a public official (Article 319 of the Criminal Code), and illegal possession of explosive devices (Part 1, Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code).
On appeal, the sentence was amended, with the sentence for insulting a public official being excluded on a technicality. As a result, Voronin was sentenced to 11 years and 10 months in prison.
The Supreme Court’s ruling states that on 27 March 2020, Voronin breached fire safety regulations. According to the documents, the Samara resident lit three bonfires on his plot of land in Diveyevo District, Nizhny Novgorod region, which were near wooden structures. Later, the head of the village council and an emergencies ministry employee arrived.
The ruling shows that the Samara resident threatened to use violence against the head of the village council, swung a poker at them, and insulted the emergencies ministry employee. In court, the Samara resident argued that neither the head of the village council nor the emergencies ministry employee are public officials, and therefore he disagreed with the charges.
After this incident, on 3 April, the Samara resident posted a text online to “draw attention to the unlawful actions of police officers” in the context of COVID-19 restrictions. According to an expert, the text contained signs of a threat to carry out sabotage at military and government sites, as well as to blow up an FSB building.
“The author draws attention to the situation in the country related to the introduction of restrictions due to the threat of the spread of coronavirus, which is presented as a conflict between citizens and law enforcement officers, while also demanding that the recipient justify the measures being taken,” according to the expert’s report.
The packet of gunpowder found in Voronin’s home at the time of his arrest on 4 April, according to him, was planted by law enforcement officers. The Samara resident claimed they also “unlawfully used physical force against him.” The court found these claims to be unfounded.
In July 2024, the Pskov District Court sentenced Andrei Voronin, who was already in prison, to a further two years and six months in prison in a case concerning the disruption of a penal colony (Part 2, Article 321 of the Criminal Code). After combining the sentences, he then had nine years left to serve.
According to the court, Voronin went on hunger strike in a punishment cell and refused food brought to him by a staff member of Penal Colony No. 4 in Pskov, a city in north-western Russia. After that, the officer asked the convicted man to come out of the cell for a search. At that point, Voronin grabbed and pushed the officer. The court found the Samara resident guilty of causing non-life-threatening violence.
In 2017, Voronin was fined under the article banning the promotion of Nazi symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). The reason was a repost with both Soviet and National Socialist propaganda posters, accompanied by a text discussing the similarities between the two regimes.