Kuznetsov Igor Vasilevich

On September 5, 2021, in Moscow, two local residents - Dmitry Chebanov and Nikita Kreshchuk - were detained on the observation deck of the Central Children's Store on Lubyanskaya Square. They were taken to the Meshchansky District Department of the Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow, where protocols on administrative offenses for failure to comply with a lawful demand of police officers were drawn up against the men. In identical protocols, police officers claimed that they saw two suspicious men who, 'clearly nervous, looking around, while holding 2 black polyethylene bags in their hands.' When they approached them to check their documents, the men refused and began to behave aggressively, so they were taken to the police station. The next day, September 6, Judge Victoria Dyachkova of the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow considered both protocols and sentenced Chebanov and Kreshchuk to 15 days of administrative arrest each. A few days later, on September 14, 2021, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case against Moscow resident Dmitry Chebanov and other persons on charges of incitement and involvement in the organization and participation in mass riots. In total, in the opinion of the security forces, the group consisted of at least 11 participants from 7 regions of Russia. Most of the defendants are participants and administrators of regional chats of the Telegram channel 'Chto-Delo!'. According to the investigation, Dmitry Chebanov and other participants in the group, motivated by political hatred for the state authorities of Russia, with 'the aim of concealing their true intentions' and conspiracy, created a network of channels in the Telegram messenger called 'What to Do?', in which they posted publications and conducted agitation aimed at organizing mass riots on the territory of the Russian Federation on the days of the single voting from September 17 to 19, 2021, with the aim of disrupting the elections of deputies of the VIII convocation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Using the short video messaging service Tik-Tok and the Telegram messenger, the defendants conducted an information and propaganda campaign on the Internet aimed at inciting hatred or enmity, as well as involving persons in the organization of mass riots in order to prevent the elections of deputies to the State Duma in 2021. On September 16, searches were conducted in Moscow, Sochi, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, St. Petersburg, the city of Nadym in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, and Nizhnekamsk in the Republic of Tatarstan. In Moscow, Dmitry Chebanov's civil wife, Zhanna Chernova, and designer Maria Platonova were detained. In Sochi, activist Ildar Sadriev was detained, in Krasnoyarsk - Alexey Yankochkin, in Tomsk - RusNews journalist Igor Kuznetsov, in St. Petersburg - Vyacheslav Abramov, in Nadym - Dmitry Lamanov. On the same day, all the defendants were charged with calls for mass riots and incitement of hatred or enmity. Vyacheslav Abramov was also charged with a criminal case on drug possession without intent to sell, which was subsequently terminated due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for prosecution. On September 17, 2021, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow sent Dmitry Chebanov and Zhanna Chernova to a pre-trial detention center, and Maria Platonova under house arrest. On the same day, the Lazarevsky District Court of Sochi placed Ildar Sadriev in custody, the Railway District Court of Krasnoyarsk - Alexey Yankochkin, the Kirovsky District Court of Tomsk - Igor Kuznetsov, the Lenin District Court of St. Petersburg - Vyacheslav Abramov. On September 18, the Nadym City Court of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District also placed Dmitry Lamanov in a pre-trial detention center. In December of the same year, those arrested in the 'Chto-Delo!' case were transferred from all over Russia to Moscow. On April 5, 2024, Judge Oksana Kopylova of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow found all the defendants in the case guilty and sentenced them: - Ildar Sadriev to 6 years and 6 months in a strict regime, - Dmitry Chebanov to 7 years and 6 months in a general regime, - Zhanna Chernova to 5 years and 2 months in a general regime, - Nikita Kreshchuk to 6 years in a general regime, - Alexey Kurlov to 6 years in a general regime, - Vyacheslav Abramov to 6 years and 6 months in a strict regime, - Dmitry Lamanov to 6 years in a general regime, - Igor Kuznetsov to 6 years in a general regime, - Maria Platonova to 5 years and 2 months in a general regime, - Igor Nagibin to 8 years in a general regime with a fine of 15 thousand rubles, - Alexey Yankochkin to 6 years in a general regime. Also, the court deprived all the defendants in the case, except for Chernova, of the right to engage in activities related to the placement of appeals on public networks and the Internet for 2 years. For Maria Platonova, the court postponed the execution of the sentence for the period of her pregnancy and until the child reaches the age of 14. On November 21, 2024, the Moscow City Court upheld the sentence. According to the FSB, Polyudova created 'Left Resistance' to 'prepare and commit crimes, [...] namely, public justification of terrorism and public calls for extremist activity.' The investigation considers the holding of pickets and publications on social networks to be the activities of an extremist community. Five activists - Kirill Kotov, Sergey Kirsanov, Alena Krylova, Igor Kuznetsov, and Andrey Romanov - are charged with participating in an extremist community (Part 2 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Kotov has already been sentenced to three years suspended. On March 20, 2024, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow found Igor Kuznetsov guilty and sentenced him to three years suspended. The court also prohibited Kuznetsov from administering websites and working in the media, organizing public events for 4 years, with a restriction of freedom for 1 year. The probationary period was set for 3 years.