A Moscow resident was sentenced to three years in prison for donating 2,100 roubles (approx. US$22) to the Anti-Corruption Foundation.

The Basmanny District Court in Moscow has sentenced 39-year-old Vitaly Ainulin to three years in a general regime penal colony for financing an “extremist” organisation (article 282.3, part 1 of the Criminal Code). Mediazona reports.

According to the prosecution, between August 2021 and February 2022 Ainulin transferred 300 roubles seven times to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). The total amount donated was 2,100 roubles (about US$22). The prosecutor had requested a four-year prison sentence.

Ainulin told the court that he had subscribed to donate back in March 2021, before FBK was declared an “extremist” organisation. He said that after the foundation was banned, he did not set up a new subscription and the payments continued to be withdrawn automatically. He maintained that he did not notice these charges and cancelled the subscription in February 2022. Mediazona noted that in February 2022, donations from Russia virtually stopped after Visa and MasterCard left the country.