Zaytsev Valeriy Andreevich

On October 12, 2023, in the village of Solnechny and in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Krai, two friends were detained — 14-year-old schoolboy Valery Zaytsev and his 18-year-old student Nikita Turlayev. Nikita was detained in the dormitory of the local college where he studied, while law enforcement officers came directly to the tuberculosis dispensary where Valery was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis. Nikita, who was an adult, was accused of calling for terrorism, while Valery, who was a minor, was accused of undergoing training for the purpose of preparing for a terrorist attack. Subsequently, both boys were charged with justifying terrorism and undergoing training for the purpose of preparing for a terrorist attack. Alexander Zaitsev and Turlaev were criminally prosecuted because of a video posted on a Telegram channel showing teenagers throwing Molotov cocktails at the wall of an abandoned building. According to the investigation, Nikita administered "groups and chats" on Telegram and VKontakte, propagating the ideology of the Azov battalion, while 14-year-old Valery "engaged in practical activities and also supported Azov. The court sent both defendants in the case to a pre-trial detention center. On August 16, 2024, the 1st Eastern Military District Court found Valery Zaitsev guilty and sentenced him to 4.5 years of imprisonment in a corrective colony. The verdict was not appealed and entered into legal force. On November 13, 2024, the 1st Eastern Military District Court found Nikita Turlaev guilty and sentenced him to 11 years in a strict regime colony, the first 3 years in prison. On March 10, 2025, the Appellate Military Court left Turlaev's sentence unchanged.