Lazakovich Mikhail Sergeevich

In Tver on May 9, 2023, 18-year-old local resident Mikhail Lazakovich was detained. According to the investigation, Lazakovich, being "opposed to the conduct of the SVO" and "adhering to liberal-radical ideas, on May 8, 2023, took a canister of gasoline, a lighter, and went by electric train to the city of Likhoslavl in the Tver region. Waiting for night, Lazakovich poured gasoline on the wooden wall of the military commissariat and set it on fire. Following the advice of his court-appointed lawyer, the young man did not deny his involvement in the arson. However, instead of the promised mitigation of the punishment, the prosecution reclassified the charge from "attempting to damage property" to "committing a terrorist act." After being charged under the "terrorist" article, the Tver resident refused to give testimony and admit his guilt in terrorism. The next day after his detention, the Tver region's Likholavlsky district court sent Mikhail to a pre-trial detention center. Later, the charge of terrorism was supplemented with an article on desecration of the bodies of the deceased and their burial places. On July 9, 2024, the Voroshilovsky District Court of Volgograd found Tatyana Lebedeva guilty and sentenced her to 3 years of imprisonment with a probationary period of 3 years. Mikhail does not deny that he did this, and explained his motivation as a desire to grow crystals on his skull. Human rights defenders from 'Zone of Solidarity' note that the young man understands that he 'did something bad', but compares what he did to an 'adventure and quest'. On May 27, 2024, the 2nd Western Military District Court found Mikhail Lazarevich guilty and sentenced him to 11 years in a strict regime colony. On August 21, 2024, the Appellate Military Court upheld the verdict.