The Ural PR man was convicted of justifying terrorism in connection with a statement about military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky

The Central District Military Court sentenced Ural PR specialist Yaroslav Shirshikov, accused of justifying terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), to two years in a general regime penal colony. The reason for initiating the case was a post in the Telegram channel “Hussar Bravado” (now has 1.4 thousand subscribers). Mr. Shirshikov wrote that he “does not feel even a shadow of sadness” over the death of military commander Vladlen Tatarsky as a result of a terrorist attack in April 2023, calling the deceased a “scumbag.” Let us remind you that the terrorist attack was carried out in the Street Food Bar cafe in St. Petersburg at a creative evening for a military correspondent. Daria Trepova (sentenced to 27 years in prison in January 2024) brought a figurine with an explosive device into the cafe, which she handed to Vladlen Tatarsky. As a result of the explosion, the military commander was killed and 40 people were injured.

“He (Yaroslav Shirshikov.— “Kommersant”) admitted the fact of publication, but the fact that this qualifies as justification of terrorism has not been proven,” the defendant’s lawyer Fyodor Akchermyshev commented on the court decision. “Ministry of Justice specialists say that his words did not contain any unlawful motives towards citizens who read this publication ” Mr. Akchermyshev intends to appeal the verdict. “I wrote that I do not regret that the person died. I do not justify terrorist activities as such,” Yaroslav Shirshikov himself said earlier.

Yaroslav Shirshikov has already had problems with the law. In March 2020, he was sentenced to one and a half years in prison on two criminal charges. The first case concerned calls for mass riots (Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) against the construction of the Church of St. Catherine in Yekaterinburg. The second criminal case was related to the fact that Yaroslav Shirshikov posted an appeal to Vladimir Putin on Facebook (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). In it, he asked to transfer to him the residence of the “Polish spy Tsukanov as soon as possible” (Nikolai Tsukanov was the plenipotentiary representative in the Urals Federal District until November 2020). He was charged under the article of libel (Part 5 of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In June 2022, Yaroslav Shirshikov was fined 40 thousand rubles. for discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). The reason for drawing up the protocol was his interview with the TV2 channel and a photo in a T-shirt with an image containing criticism of the SVO. Yaroslav Shirshikov also came to the attention of law enforcement agencies in connection with the detention of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage (Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the time of his arrest, Mr. Shirshikov was sitting with him in the restaurant.

Maria Sharaeva, Ekaterinburg