Sergey Silantyev. Photo: Mediazona
A court in the city of Yekaterinburg, in the Russian Urals, has released a pensioner convicted of treason for posting leaflets advertising the Freedom of Russia Legion, which fights alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the Russian military, independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Tuesday.
Judge Valentin Krylov found 63-year-old pensioner Sergey Silantyev, from the city of Izhevsk in the republic of Udmurtia, in the Volga region, guilty of treason, justifying terrorism, involvement with a terrorist organisation and calling for action that would jeopardise Russian security.
However, while sentencing Silantyev to 15 years in prison, the judge immediately released him on health grounds, saying he must only observe a two-year ban on administering websites. The prosecutor had requested a sentence of 25 years. Silantyev pleaded guilty.
Silantyev was first detained on 24 April 2024, and originally placed under house arrest, but tougher measures were imposed on 19 December, when Silantyev was placed in pretrial detention, despite his being registered disabled due to kidney problems since 2018. Silantyev explained to the court that he was taken from the pretrial detention centre to hospital for dialysis three times a week.
The prosecution said Silantyev had filled out a questionnaire to join the Freedom of Russia Legion, and was given instructions by a handler to print out leaflets and paste them to the graves of Russian servicemen buried in an Izhevsk cemetery. He was identified by testing on traces of sweat he had left behind at the scene.
In court, the leaflets were described as an image of Vladimir Putin with blood dripping from his mouth, captioned “If it wasn’t for him, I’d still be alive. Stop the war!” There was also the symbol of the legion — a clenched fist — and QR codes which led to its website and social media pages.
Silantyev was also convicted of calling for activities jeopardising Russian security for an online comment from 15 October 2022, in which he urged people to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Mediazona said Silantyev had also garnered media attention in 2012, during the last wave of mass anti-Putin demonstrations in Russia. Silantyev drove around Izhevsk in a truck covered with posters bearing anti-Putin slogans, encouraging people to attend demonstrations. He called his vehicle the “good car of truth”.