Search
The 1st Western District Military Court in St Petersburg has sentenced a 39-year-old local resident, Andrey Kurylev, to five years in a general regime penal colony over comments posted on VKontakte and Telegram. This was reported by Mediazona.
The court found Kurylev guilty of justifying terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) for comments he posted between July 2022 and April 2023. The prosecutor had asked for an eight-year prison term for the St Petersburg resident.
The court stated that, under a post about a missile strike on Vinnytsia, the man wrote: “It’s time to blow up this Crimean bridge to hell!”
Under another post, about Iranian missile supplies to Russia, Kurylev allegedly left the following comment: “Ukraine has no gunpowder. It’s long overdue to establish production of medium-range missiles. Even North Korea produces them. Just load a couple of tonnes of explosives into a Zenit LV and send it somewhere, say, to Sevastopol Bay.”
Another message by the St Petersburg resident was published on 30 December 2022 under news about a missile shot down near Kyiv: “It’s time to start causing chaos on Rabsiya’s territory—military units and airfields.”
Two more comments related to news of the killing of Z-military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky: “Z- … blown up—a good piece of news,” and “The Prigozhinite trolls should be sent there as well.”
The defendant said he had once supported the Russian authorities and backed the occupation of Crimea in 2014. But later, as living standards fell in the country, his views changed. Kurylev explained that he posted comments on both pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian media outlets out of anxiety and fear of nuclear war.
He also said that security officers first came to him in 2023. They told him his comments were illegal but did not detain him. Later, Kurylev found a new job, started seeing a colleague, and stopped posting comments.
So when security officers came to him again a year later, this time with a search, he “didn’t understand anything.” The St Petersburg resident gave investigators access to his devices. Kurylev was detained on 17 December 2024 and charged that same day. The next day, the Nevsky District Court in St Petersburg sent him to a pre-trial detention centre (SIZO), repeatedly extending the measure.
Andrey Kurylev explained that he did not plan to flee from the investigation and wanted to stay in Russia, though many acquaintances tried to dissuade him. He deleted the comments. In court, he also stressed that after nine months in the pre-trial detention centre, he had realised his guilt, had met “patriots who served in the Special Military Operation, and contract soldiers” who explained “their point of view” to him.
In addition, the defendant said he had transferred five thousand roubles (about US$55) each to the “Common Cause” fund and the Konstantin Khabensky Foundation.
Kurylev’s boss, Pavel Orlov from the company Morsvyazavtomatika, gave a positive character reference at the court hearing. According to Mediazona, Orlov said that Kurylev “is liked at work, people ask his advice, and they didn’t even fire him after the case was opened.”
In closing arguments, the St Petersburg resident asked for a punishment not involving imprisonment, and in his final statement apologised to Russians who might have been offended by his comments.