Yekaterinburg Military Court Sentences Five Leftists to Decades in Prison for Alleged Coup Plot

A military tribunal in Yekaterinburg has handed down lengthy prison sentences to five individuals who identify as Marxists from the nearby republic of Bashkortostan, charging them with terrorism and conspiracy to commit a coup, as reported by the exiled media outlet Mediazona on Tuesday.

The group, consisting of middle-aged and older men associated with a leftist discussion forum, was apprehended in Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, in March 2022, just one month after Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Authorities alleged that they were plotting to violently topple the government and reinstall a «Soviet regime.» The accused refuted these claims, asserting that their discussions were theoretical in nature and did not aim to provoke actual violence.

A panel of three judges at the Central District Military Court found them guilty of establishing a «terrorist organization» and of attempting a coup d’état.

On Tuesday, the defendants received prison terms ranging from 16 to 22 years in a maximum-security facility, concluding court proceedings that started in December 2023. Prosecutors had sought sentences between 20 and 24 years.

During the court session, the men shouted «fascists» in response to the reading of the verdicts. They characterized the prosecution as «a silent execution» and «repression against communists» in their final remarks earlier this month.

Among those sentenced is Alexei Dmitriev, a 43-year-old ENT specialist who started the leftist discussion group in 2016. He and Dmitry Chuvilin, a 41-year-old former member of Bashkortostan’s legislative assembly, were both handed 20-year sentences.

The other convicted individuals include 66-year-old retiree Yury Yefimov, 40-year-old activist Rinat Burkeyev, and 49-year-old Pavel Matisov, who previously fought alongside pro-Kremlin forces in eastern Ukraine since 2014.

The main witness against the group was Sergei Sapozhnikov, a naturalized Russian who had previously fought for pro-Kremlin factions in eastern Ukraine and later allied with the Marxist activists before turning on them.

The defendants accused Sapozhnikov of fabricating his testimony during the proceedings.