A folklorist from Khanty-Mansiysk, a major town in Western Siberia, has had their fine replaced with a prison sentence in the case concerning donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).

The court in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, in a court of appeal, has toughened the sentence for folklorist and bard Valery Ledkov, who was fined 120,000 rubles (approx. US$1,330) in July in a case over donations to FBK. His lawyer, Pavel Rusnakov, reported this to OVD-Info.

The court sentenced him to three years in a general regime penal colony. The prosecution had requested four years of imprisonment.

The folklorist was taken into custody in the courtroom.

60-year-old Ledkov was found guilty of financing extremist activities (Article 282.3 Part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code). According to investigators, from August 2021 to February 2022, he made seven donations to FBK totalling 2,100 rubles (approx. US$23).

The case against him was opened in December 2024. Until his sentencing, he had been under house arrest.

• The folklorist’s son, Konstantin Ledkov, who worked as a librarian in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (a remote region in northwest Russia), was also prosecuted. In May, he was sentenced to five and a half years in a penal colony over charges of repeated display of banned symbols (Article 282.4 Part 1 of the Criminal Code), discrediting the army (Article 280.3 Part 1), and calls for activity directed against state security (sub-paragraph “v” of Article 280.4 Part 2).
• OVD-Info has reported in detail on the case against Konstantin and Valery Ledkov.