Onuk Nikolay Nikolaevich

In annexed Simferopol, on the night of 7 July 2023, leaflets appeared on the building of the railway station, the Supreme Court of Crimea, at bus stops, and on the fence. It depicted a two-headed eagle struck by a blue and yellow sword, with the words 'Krym — tse Ukraina' written on it. In the evening of August 1, police officers from the Center for Combating Extremism broke into the home of 35-year-old local resident Nikolai Onuk. They conducted an illegal search under the guise of 'examining the premises' and arrested Onuk under an administrative article for disobeying the police. The first arrest was immediately followed by a second - allegedly for displaying extremist symbols. While serving his second arrest, on August 25, 2023, a criminal case was opened against Onuk for transporting and storing explosives, allegedly found during a search. On the same day, the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Simferopol chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention for a Crimean. August 30, 2023, a criminal case for "vandalism" was opened against Onuk, and on December 29, for "desecration of the coat of arms" of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, Onuk in May 2023 on the side of the highway Dzhankoy - Simferopol discovered a package containing an object of rectangular shape of orange-red color with the inscription "trotyl cartridge - 200. After this, Nikolai Onuk suddenly "developed a criminal intent aimed at the illegal acquisition, transportation, and storage of explosives and explosive devices." The reason for criminal prosecution under articles on vandalism and desecration of the coat of arms of the Russian Federation was the printing and posting of leaflets. According to law enforcement, at approximately 4:00 AM on July 17, 2023, Onuk printed leaflets "with an obscene depiction of the State Emblem of the Russian Federation, namely: a solid contour image of a black two-headed eagle with raised spread wings; the eagle is crowned with two small crowns and — above them — one large crown, connected by ribbons; in the eagle's right paw is a scepter, in the left is an orb, which pierces a stylized sword, the hilt of which is depicted as a trident and tamga, connected to each other." Subsequently, he pasted these leaflets on various buildings and facilities in Simferopol using adhesive tape. There were only five leaflets in total. Thus, according to the investigation, he "gave the above structures an indecent, offensive to public morality appearance" and "committed an act of desecration against the symbol of the Russian Federation, namely the State Emblem of the Russian Federation." On 16 May 2024, Yevgenia Yuryevna Romanenkova, a judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Simferopol, found Nikolai Onuk guilty and sentenced him to 5 years in a general regime colony, as well as a fine of 50 thousand. rubles. The verdict was not appealed and entered into legal force.