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The First Western District Military Court has sentenced Yuri Shlenkin, a resident of St Petersburg with a third-degree disability, to three years in prison over a comment mentioning the Russian Volunteer Corps and the “Freedom of Russia” Legion. This was reported by SOTAvision.
Shlenkin was found guilty of justifying terrorism online (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The prosecutor had requested a three-year prison sentence.
The case was opened over a comment he posted on Telegram on 26 July 2024. The text of the comment was not read out in court. According to the prosecution, the young man “with direct intent, publicly called for terrorist activities” in the comment. The prosecutor stated that, according to expert assessment, despite his psychiatric diagnosis, Shlenkin was aware of the consequences of his actions at the time of posting.
Shlenkin’s lawyer asked the court to take the young man’s health into account. He noted that Shlenkin posted the comment “during a period of emotional instability due to his anxiety over ongoing events,” and that because of his diagnosis, he “has always been easily influenced.”
Shlenkin expressed full remorse. The lawyer asked for a non-custodial sentence for the young man.
During the hearing, Shlenkin said that he changed his opinion about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2024 after friends of his were killed in the fighting. He said that afterwards, he started reading different information.
He was detained in April 2025 in St Petersburg and placed in a pre-trial detention centre. His conditions were later changed to a restriction of certain activities after his defence provided documents about his health. During the investigation, Shlenkin was sent to a psychiatric clinic for a month for assessment, after which he was declared fit to stand trial.
Yuri Shlenkin, who is 28, has been formally registered with a third-degree disability due to a neurological condition. Because of his diagnosis, he was unable to socialise and received home schooling.
As Shlenkin’s mother told SOTAvision, he “has suffered from intellectual disability since childhood.” The young man was not given an exact diagnosis because his family could not afford expensive medical tests.