A 19-year-old resident of an occupied village has been convicted over comments about the war, “Putyu” and “rusnya”

The Southern District Military Court has sentenced Vitaly Trofimchuk to five years and six months in a general regime penal colony, finding him guilty of incitement to terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Mediazona.

The teenager lives in the occupied village of Velyka Bilozerka in Zaporizhzhia region, southeastern Ukraine. He lost both of his parents at an early age and lived with his grandmother and uncle. Trofimchuk said that before being detained he would earn some money by helping buy vegetables for a shop, receiving 2,000–4,000 roubles per month (US$20–40).

The criminal case was initiated due to comments the teenager made on Telegram.

On 9 October 2024, a post appeared on the “Energodar Today” channel in Ukrainian: “The first point of the ‘Victory Plan’—Ukraine in NATO—Zelensky.” The admins asked subscribers what the second point could be. “Burn or blow up all of Russia,” wrote Trofimchuk.

In the discussion that followed with other commenters, he also wrote: “As long as Russia exists, there will be war, and that baldy freak Putya will say there’s a reason for it,” and “I’ve been living under occupation for three years, I see what the Russkies are up to.”

These statements formed the basis of the terrorism incitement charges.

On 12 April 2025, in a group chat of 40 participants, under a photo showing three teenagers with a Russian flag, Trofimchuk wrote: “Shoot them.” This comment was classified as an incitement to extremism.

Trofimchuk participated in the court proceedings via video link from a remand centre in Donetsk. At the hearing, he described his comments as “emotional and ill-considered.” He explained them by saying he had “seen videos of Russian soldiers killing prisoners and striking peaceful cities.”

During the trial, interrogation protocols were read out in which Trofimchuk purportedly said that he “hates Russians” and “always wanted to influence the Russian leadership’s decision on the special military operation, and persuade them to abandon the decision to annex Zaporizhzhia region to the Russian Federation.”

The teenager confirmed this testimony in court, but after his defence lawyer clarified whether these were his own words, he said he had only “signed” the protocols.