Perov Valeriy Valerevich

5 October 2023, in Nizhny Novgorod, unknown men in electrician uniforms broke into the apartment of 39-year-old electrician Valery Perov and his civil wife. One of them twisted the arms of Maria, Perov's civil wife, and pressed her against the wall. The others began striking Valery with a stun gun in the groin and abdomen area. When one of the strangers took off his work jacket - underneath was another one with "FSB" written on it. Later, an investigator arrived at the apartment with witnesses. A search began, looking for "some technical device." Three hours after the search began, a court-appointed lawyer arrived. Perov felt ill, an ambulance was called, he was taken to the hospital, but was soon brought back. After the search at Perov's place, the FSB went to search his mother's apartment, where he was registered. In total, the searches lasted about 16 hours. As a result, the security forces seized the "technical device" - Perov's smartphone and a Ukrainian flag. According to the FSB's version, it was from this device that Perov corresponded with a representative of the "Freedom of Russia" legion fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and spread information about this legion online. The criminal case materials lack IP addresses that would allow establishing from which specific device the correspondence was conducted and the locations of information transmission. A criminal case was opened against the Nizhny Novgorod resident for "cooperating on a confidential basis with representatives of a foreign state" and public calls for terrorism. The court sent him to a pre-trial detention center. On 24 October 2024, the 2nd Western Military District Court found Valery Perov guilty and sentenced him to 11 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. On 24 April 2025, the Appellate Military Court changed the verdict, details unknown.