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During arguments at the First Western District Military Court, the prosecutor demanded that Andrey Voronin, a resident of Tolyatti (a major city on the Volga River), be sentenced to 10.5 years in a high-security prison for discussing the war with cellmates. This was reported by “Mediazona.”
The man has been charged under articles for spreading “fakes” about the Russian army (clause “d,” part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and for making public calls to terrorism (part 1, article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The prosecution believes that, taking into account an earlier sentence, Voronin should serve a total of 15 years in prison.
The criminal case was based on conversations Voronin had with cellmates in Pretrial Detention Centre No. 1 and Correctional Colony No. 4 in Pskov Region, north-western Russia. According to “Mediazona,” Voronin was monitored using a hidden camera, and the footage was shown in court.
In these recordings, Voronin can be heard discussing Russia starting the war in Ukraine, as well as Russian military using poisonous gases against civilians in Syria. The publication quotes Voronin as saying: “To stop the war, you need to shoot Putin.”
Witnesses in court, including inmates and Federal Penitentiary Service staff, confirmed hearing such statements from Voronin. One cellmate said that, although the defendant is “an emotional person,” he did not call for anything illegal and believes the case against Voronin was “fabricated.” At the hearing, Voronin said that at the start of the war, he learned from a letter from his grandmother about relatives who died under shelling in Ukraine.
In April 2021, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced Voronin to 12 years in prison, with the first three years to be served in jail, and the remainder in a high-security colony. He was also fined 50,000 rubles (approx. US$550).
The court found him guilty of articles including terrorism (part 1, article 205 of the Criminal Code), violence against a government official (part 1, article 318), insulting a public official (article 319), and illegal possession of explosive devices (part 1, article 222.1). The sentence was later reduced to 11 years and 10 months in jail.
The Supreme Court’s ruling states that on 27 March 2020, Voronin violated fire safety regulations. Based on the text, the Tolyatti resident lit three bonfires on his plot in Diveyevo District, Nizhny Novgorod Region. The bonfires were located near wooden buildings. The head of the village council and an Emergencies Ministry employee later arrived.
According to the court’s decision, Voronin threatened to use violence against the head of the village council, swung a poker at him, and insulted the Emergency Ministry staff member. In court, Voronin argued that neither the village council head nor the Emergency Ministry official were government representatives, and that he did not agree with the charges.
After this incident, on 3 April, Voronin published a text online “to draw attention to unlawful actions by the police” in the context of COVID restrictions. According to an expert, the text contained threats to commit sabotage at military and state facilities, and to bomb the FSB building.
The pack of gunpowder found at Voronin’s home during his arrest on 4 April, he claimed, had been planted by law enforcement. The defendant also stated they “illegally used physical force” against him. The court found these claims to be unfounded.
In July 2024, Pskov District Court in north-western Russia sentenced Andrey Voronin, who was already serving a sentence, to another two years and six months in prison for disrupting the work of the colony (part 2, article 321 of the Criminal Code). Adding up all the sentences, he then had nine years left to serve. According to the court, Voronin declared a hunger strike in the punishment cell (SHIZO) and refused food brought by a Federal Penitentiary Service employee in Correctional Colony No. 4 in Pskov. After this, he had a conflict with a guard.
In 2017, Voronin was fined under the article on the promotion of Nazi symbols (part 1, article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). The grounds for this was a repost featuring Soviet and National Socialist agitation posters, accompanied by a text about the similarities between the two regimes.
16:50 The court sentenced Andrey Voronin to six years in prison, reports “Bumaga.” The prosecutor had requested ten and a half years.
Taking into account the previous sentence, Voronin now has ten years left to serve: for the first three, he must be held in jail, with the remainder in a high-security colony.
The court also banned him from administering websites for two years following his release. “Mediazona” writes that Voronin was also fined 49,000 rubles (approx. US$540).
The headline was updated after the verdict was announced