A business school lecturer faces a request for a 19-year sentence in a terrorism case over a drone attack in Kursk, a city in western Russia.

Prosecutor Nadezhda Tikhonova has requested a 19-year prison sentence for Eldar Marchenko, a lecturer at the RMA business school and former husband of the chief editor of Port, who is accused under the article on terrorism committed by a group (points “a,” “v” of part 2, article 205 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by RusNews and Mediazona.

Tikhonova clarified that Marchenko should spend the first six years in prison, with the remaining term to be served in a strict regime penal colony.

The case is being heard by the 2nd Western District Military Court in Moscow.

According to the prosecution, the man “with the aim of destabilising Russian authorities” joined an organised group created by Ukrainian security and military personnel. On 26 August 2023, he allegedly travelled from Moscow to Kursk, a regional city in western Russia, and the next day passed the coordinates of the local airport to his handlers. As a result, at least two drones were sent from Ukrainian territory towards Kursk but “failed to reach their target for reasons beyond the group’s control.” Nevertheless, at least eight flats, an administrative building of an educational institution, and two cars were damaged.

Regional authorities reported at the time that a drone crashed into an apartment building, and the blast wave shattered windows at a building of the Kursk State Agrarian University. No one was injured as a result of the incident.

In court, the prosecutor stated that the only way to record the coordinates of an airport or train station is by being present at the location. As further evidence, she cited past instances when Marchenko had been prosecuted for participating in rallies and “offensive comments under a photograph of the president.”

Marchenko does not admit guilt. “No one saw him in Kursk when the drones struck,” his lawyer Aleksandr Aladyev said during closing arguments. According to SOTAvision, he also said that no evidence of contact with foreign intelligence services was found on his client’s phone and that the case lacks any weapon or tool of the alleged crime. The lawyer insisted that the drones that appeared in Kursk on 27 August 2023 were for reconnaissance, as they contained few destructive elements.

In court, Marchenko said that FSB agents had threatened him with a heavy sentence.

The man was detained in Moscow on 1 August 2024. SOTA, citing its own sources, reported that he gave a confession under torture. Initially, FSB agents searched Marchenko’s home without providing any documents and then took him for questioning to Lubyanka. On the way, he was electrocuted and pressured to confess to “working for Ukrainian intelligence,” the publication said.

On the day of his detention, Marchenko was not charged with a criminal offence. Instead, he went through a series of “carousel arrests”—he was arrested three times in a row on administrative charges of petty hooliganism (article 20.1 of the Administrative Offences Code). Twice he was sentenced to 15 days, and the third time to ten days in custody. Only after serving the third arrest was Marchenko charged in the criminal case. On 12 September he was placed in pre-trial detention.

In closing arguments, the prosecutor claimed that on 1 August 2024 Marchenko gave statements voluntarily and admitted guilt even before he was inside the security officers’ car. “There were no grounds to use any violence against him, and none was used,” Tikhonova said.

The lawyer, however, pointed out that the burns on Marchenko’s hands were confirmed by a member of the public monitoring commission.

Prior to his arrest, Marchenko taught sports management at the RMA business school. In 2022 he wrote several columns for the publication Vot Tak (these are no longer publicly available).