Kolesnikov Aleksey Ivanovich

In the Voronezh region on April 5, 2024, security forces with the support of SOBR detained a 47-year-old local resident, Alexey Kolesnikov. He was driving home to Ostrogozhsk from the city of Vidnoye in the Moscow region. According to the testimony of the man, he was beaten during his detention, after which he was taken for interrogation at the FSB of the Voronezh region. A criminal case was opened against Kolesnikov for public calls for extremist activity. The details of the charges are unknown. According to Kolesnikov's own testimony, he was subjected to psychological pressure and threats against his relatives, which forced him to sign a confession. For the duration of the investigation, the defendant was placed in a pre-trial detention center. On September 23, 2024, the Central District Court of Voronezh found Alexei Kolesnikov guilty and sentenced him to 1 year of imprisonment in a general regime colony. The verdict was not appealed and entered into legal force. On December 28, 2024, the day of the completion of his sentence and release from the IK-9 Correctional Colony of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Voronezh Region, Kolesnikov was detained again, after which he was taken to a police station, where a protocol on an administrative offense was drawn up against the man under the article on inciting hatred or enmity. On the same day, Judge Elena Kurbatova of the Central District Court of Voronezh sentenced Kolesnikova to 10 days of administrative arrest. On January 7, 2025, upon completion of his sentence, Kolesnikov was again detained and taken to the investigative department of the FSB, where he was charged with new charges of public calls for extremism and terrorism. According to law enforcement's version, in May 2023, the man, harboring hostility toward the existing constitutional order and state authorities of the Russian Federation, published a comment in one of the social networks justifying terrorism. In December of the same year, under similar circumstances, he allegedly posted a message calling for violent actions against representatives of the current political power. What exactly Kolesnikov wrote is not reported. The defendants in the case were placed in custody for the duration of the investigation. On July 17, 2025, the 2nd Western Military Court found Alexey Kolesnikov guilty and sentenced him to 8 years in a strict regime penal colony. Also, the court prohibited him from administering websites and social networks on the Internet for 4 years.