A Kazan resident who spoke out against the war has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for arson and online comments.

The Central District Military Court has sentenced a Kazan resident to 15 years in a penal colony on charges of incitement to extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code), terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code), as well as for committing an act of terrorism (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the court’s press office.

The man was also banned from administering websites and channels on the internet for four years after his release.

The statement says that the convicted person is an opponent of the war in Ukraine and a participant in the anarchist group Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists.

The court found that the man had published 17 comments with calls for violence against representatives of the authorities, including the President of Russia. He was charged with incitement to terrorism over 27 posts.

The statement also says that, expressing his disagreement with the invasion of Ukraine, the man, acting on the orders of an “unidentified person,” set fire to the premises of court magistrates in a block of flats in Kazan, a major city on the Volga River.

“FederalPress” reported that the man in question is Dmitry Osyagin. According to the case file on the court’s website, the sentence was handed down on 18 June.

In February 2023, Baza reported an attempted arson attack on the building housing the magistrates’ court of Kazan’s Privolzhsky District. According to the outlet, the fire damaged a corner of the window frame and went out almost immediately. The case was initially investigated under the article on deliberate damage to property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code), but was later reclassified under the more serious charge of terrorism.