Overview
- The Meshchansky District Court sentenced Artemy Ostanin to five years and nine months in a penal colony and fined him 300,000 roubles after convictions for inciting hatred and insulting religious feelings.
- The case traces to a 2025 routine about a legless veteran that went viral on Telegram after war bloggers and nationalist groups amplified the clip.
- Ostanin was arrested in Belarus in March 2025 while trying to flee; he alleges beatings and electric shocks during detention, which Minsk denies.
- He has been placed on Russia's registry of designated terrorists and extremists, and the human rights group Memorial has labeled him a political prisoner.
- Judge Olesya Mendeleyeva delivered the ruling, which observers describe as part of a broader use of censorship, extremism and blasphemy statutes against critics since 2022.