On September 10, the fourth session on the case of physicist Artem Khoroshilov, who faces a life sentence, took place in the Moscow Regional Court. He is accused of four charges, including "treason," "preparation of sabotage," and "manufacturing weapons." Among the evidence is a school experiment kit found in his mother's apartment, purchased almost 20 years ago when he was still in school.
In the session, before which Khoroshilov was allowed to meet his mother for the first time in two years, chemist Andrey Kazakov, a senior researcher at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, was interrogated, writes T-invariant**. He was involved by FSB investigators to assess the explosive technical examination conducted by forensic experts. However, as the publication notes, Kazakov is a radiochemist, and his specialization is as far removed as possible from the issues of manufacturing explosives.
Kazakov stated that he was presented with photographic materials depicting nitrate, as well as ignition means and aluminum foil, and a text file in the form of instructions for making an explosive device involving ammonal. Kazakov compiled an expert opinion stating that from what was presented in the photographs, it is possible to assemble an explosive device and blow up railway tracks. At the same time, the expert confirmed that all the items shown in the photos are actively used in everyday life.
No less than 20 questions from the defense to the expert were rejected by the judge for various formal reasons.
Chemists interviewed by T-invariant are confident that the task of making a bomb capable of blowing up railway tracks is difficult even for the excellent student from the Physics and Technology Institute, Khoroshilov. "Regarding the chemical part of the interrogation, one can say 'if you really want to, you can fly to space.' But organic synthesis is more like craftsmanship. And to achieve significant yields of substances there, you need to have a very practiced hand. Preferably, you should have been doing this for many years. A novice won't be able to, simply due to lack of experience. A guy from the Physics and Technology Institute, with all due respect, even if he had a young chemist's kit in childhood, won't be able to assemble anything serious. It's like if you had a rocket constructor as a child, what's the likelihood that as an adult, armed with a lathe and the internet, you'll make a real combat rocket. That's about the same likelihood that something will result from a multi-stage chemical synthesis. Because 70% of chemistry students don't succeed on the first or second try, and sometimes never. You can probably make a smoke bomb from nitrate, but what's that got to do with blowing up railway tracks?" commented a chemist from Moscow State University on condition of anonymity.
Artem Khoroshilov is a research associate at the A.M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he is 34 years old, and graduated with honors from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He has many scientific articles in international journals. In 2023, searches were conducted in his apartment, and Khoroshilov was sent to Lefortovo. The FSB reported the capture of a serious hacker, and the public was shown badges and ribbons with Ukrainian symbols. Currently, Khoroshilov is accused of DDoS attacks, treason, preparation of sabotage, and illegal manufacturing of weapons.
* Included in the list of "terrorists and extremists".
** Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent".