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#Repressions

A resident of Gatchina was sentenced to a fine instead of a real term on charges of 'calls for terrorism' for comments on Telegram

2025.09.02

The prosecution requested six years in a penal colony

The judge of the 1st Western District Military Court, Vladimir Pestunovich, found the 53-year-old resident of the Leningrad region, Anton Zaretsky, guilty under the article on 'calls for terrorism' on the internet, but instead of a real term, imposed a fine of 400 thousand rubles, reports a correspondent of 'Mediazona' from the courtroom.

The basis was two comments in the Telegram channel 'Not TV' in July and August of last year, about the military explosion and the drone attack on Engels. The examination found 'linguistic signs of justification of terrorism' in Zaretsky's statements. The case materials include testimonies of two witnesses who did not appear in court, who discovered the comments — they considered Zaretsky's words inappropriate and outrageous.

The man was detained in March 2025 and sent to a pre-trial detention center. Zaretsky pleaded guilty. He cited the news of the death of relatives in Ukraine as the reason for his actions.

On August 29, for comments calling for the execution of Russian officials in the same 'Not TV' channel, a 43-year-old painter from Cherepovets, Dmitry Orlov, was sentenced to three years in a general regime colony. He explained his words by the grief over the death of his grandmother from a shell explosion in the Kharkiv region in 2023.

* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.
Photo: Mediazona

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