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The Izmailovsky District Court in Moscow has sentenced 26-year-old Bohdan Yakimenko to 9 years in prison, 20-year-old Roman Chizhikov to 3.5 years, and 24-year-old Ilya Popov to 2.5 years in a standard regime colony on charges related to an extremist community (Parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code) and hooliganism (Part 2 of Article 213). This was reported by “Ostorozhno, novosti” (“Caution, news”).
Another defendant in the case, Matvey Ostrovskiy, died while the trial was ongoing. The court found him guilty and terminated his criminal prosecution.
Popov and Chizhikov admitted guilt, whereas Yakimenko denied it. In one court questioning, Chizhikov said that he gave testimony dictated by a female investigator, but did not retract it.
According to the prosecution, the antifascists created the Antifa United public page and chat, where they “recruited individuals, including minors” and “planned crimes motivated by hatred against law enforcement officers.” They also allegedly discussed attacks on political opponents there. After their detention, Popov and Chizhikov signed confessions stating that Yakimenko was the administrator of the public page.
He denied this, stating that he was merely a subscriber. Yakimenko said that one of the posts he is accused of publishing appeared while he was being held in pre-trial detention centre No. 1 in Omsk, a major city in southwestern Siberia.
The charges also refer to attacks on “ideological enemies.” In one case, the reason for the attack was a T-shirt depicting someone resembling Hitler; in another, it was a bag from the right-wing brand Thor Steinar.
The antifascists were detained in the summer of 2024. The “Antifa ru” channel reported that Yakimenko was tortured with electricity after his arrest. Security officers allegedly demanded he refuse legal representation and cut contact with human rights defenders. In December 2025, Yakimenko was brought to a hearing with a broken arm—it is not known how he sustained the injury.