23:39, 3 October 2025

A Kuban resident was convicted of intending to join the LSR*

A military court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced Igor Yakovenko, accused of intending to leave Kuban for Ukraine and join an organization banned in Russia.

Igor Yakovenko's case has been heard in the Southern District Military Court since August; the verdict was announced today. He was charged with preparing to join a terrorist organization.

According to the prosecution, while in Krasnodar Krai, in 2025, he decided to join the Ukrainian paramilitary group "Legion of Freedom of Russia," which is designated a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation. According to the verdict, on May 28, Yakovenko corresponded with a representative of the organization and sent him a pre-prepared application form. It was believed that the interlocutor could arrange for him to travel to Ukraine, the court's press service reported on its official Telegram channel.

Yakovenko was sentenced to five years in a maximum-security prison, with the first two years to be served in prison. Caucasian Knot has not yet received any comments from the defendant or his lawyer regarding the sentence or his plans to appeal.

At the end of September, the Southern District Military Court issued a verdict in the case of Nikolai Artamonov from Novorossiysk, whom security officials also accused of attempting to join the LSR*. He received nine years in a maximum-security prison. Artamonov was also charged with discrediting the army and promoting terrorism.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that Vladislav Poruchikov, a student from Taganrog, was sentenced in the summer of 2024 to nine years in prison on charges of treason and attempting to recruit a terrorist organization. In April 2025, Poruchikov's sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Russia, and human rights activists recognized the student as a political prisoner.

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* The "Freedom of Russia Legion" has been designated a terrorist organization and its activities are prohibited in Russia by a decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/415989