Sorokin Dmitriy Valerevich

In St. Petersburg in April 2024, 56-year-old loader Dmitry Sorokin was detained. A criminal case was opened against him on charges of spreading 'fakes' about the Russian army for mercenary motives, public calls for extremism, and 11 episodes of justifying terrorism. According to the investigation, Sorokin published 13 posts on his personal page on VKontakte. The accusation of calls for extremism is related to the publication in March 2022 of the 'Desertion Guide'. The post from May 2022, which begins with the words 'After yesterday's massed bombardments,' was considered a 'fake' about the army. Also, in 11 publications from May 2022 to August 2023, the investigation saw justification for terrorism, and they talked about "Azov", Russian Volunteer Corps" and the "Freedom of Russia" legion." Operatives gained access to the publications using a VPN, as Sorokin's page had previously been blocked at the request of the prosecutor's office. Sorokin himself stated that after the block, he used the page as a personal 'warehouse' for materials to read them later. The defendant in the case was placed in a pre-trial detention center. On October 17, 2025, the 1st Western Military District Court in St. Petersburg found Dmitry Sorokin guilty and sentenced him to 8 years in a general regime colony.