Podoshvelyov Konstantin Mikhaylovich

In St. Petersburg, on February 14, 2024, a search was conducted at the home of 56-year-old local resident Konstantin Podoshvyolov. According to him, during the search, operatives "participated in an attack" on him, seizure, beating, and torture, threatened him and his family with "torture, physical violence, harassment, and taking his family hostage" if he did not give incriminating testimony. The man said that after his arrest, officers from the Federal Penitentiary Service and the FSB threatened him—they came to him in the SIZO without a lawyer, threatened him with 'Gestapo-style torture' to make him give incriminating testimony. A criminal case was opened against Podoshvyolov for vandalism and damage to cultural heritage sites. According to the version of the security forces, at the beginning of the year, the man left "insulting inscriptions" about the war in Ukraine on the walls of the temple on Gzhatskaya Street and two other buildings recognized as cultural heritage sites: the Polytechnic University and the church at it. The detainee wrote "University for murderers" on the building of the Polytechnic Institute, and "ROC for murderers" on the walls of religious buildings. The Ministry of Internal Affairs press release also stated that Podoshvelyov "for a certain period communicated with curators from the territory of Ukraine and prepared to join the terrorist organization" the Legion "Freedom Russia. During a search of the man's computer, security forces allegedly found correspondence with accounts registered under Ukrainian numbers and labeled as "AFU, OVIR of Ukraine, and so on. His mobile phone, laptop and other equipment were confiscated. 19 February, the Kalininsky District Court of St. Petersburg sent the man to a pre-trial detention center. March 13, 2024, the same court changed the preventive measure for Podoshvelyov to house arrest. On June 13, 2024, another criminal case was opened against Podoshevlev - for 'attempting to participate in a terrorist organization'. According to the investigation, last November, St. Petersburg entrepreneur Konstantin Podoshvyolov corresponded with Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and asked to join the "Legion of Freedom of Russia. The Kalininsky District Court of St. Petersburg chose a measure of restraint for him in the form of detention. On June 11, 2025, the 1st Western District Military Court found Konstantin Podoshvyolov guilty and sentenced him to 14 years in prison — 3 years in prison, the rest of the term in a strict regime colony, as well as a fine of 250 thousand. rubles. The court also ordered to satisfy the claims for compensation of material damage to the parties affected in the vandalism case - 24 thousand. rubles) to the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Umilenie" and 25 thousand. rubles to the Polytechnic University.