The court upheld a 15-year prison sentence for a lawyer over several comments and messages to his son

The Military Court of Appeals in Moscow has upheld the sentence of 45-year-old lawyer from Vorkuta, Gennady Kalashnikov, who was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison. Local news outlets reported the decision, publishing similar statements and a video of Kalashnikov’s arrest.

Earlier, the 1st Western District Military Court in St. Petersburg found him guilty of “public calls for extremist activity,” “justification of terrorism,” and “involvement in the activities of a terrorist organization.” The first three years of his sentence will be served in a high-security prison, with the remainder in a strict-regime penal colony. In addition, the court imposed a fine of 400,000 rubles and banned him from administering online resources for three years.

According to investigators, Kalashnikov, who allegedly held “pro-Ukrainian nationalist views,” posted comments in messaging apps that justified the actions of banned armed groups and called for violence against Russian soldiers.

In its courtroom report, Mediazona wrote that Kalashnikov became a defendant after posting comments such as “Death to Putin’s orcs!” and “Glory to the RDK!!!” (“Russian Volunteer Corps”) in a public Telegram chat called “Right View.”Investigators claimed the account was registered to his phone number. Later, an additional charge was added — “involvement in the activities of a terrorist organization.” According to the publication, this was based on his private correspondence with his son, who is fighting in Ukraine on Russia’s side. In those messages, Kalashnikov allegedly suggested that his son “join the RDK.”

“It’s the height of madness that for five words in a comment and three words in a private message to my own son, the prosecution is demanding 18 years in prison. Because of my poor health, I won’t survive even one-sixth of that term. I’m just an ordinary man who lived quietly in a remote town,” Kalashnikov said in his final statement to the court, as quoted by Mediazona. He added: “This is a human life — my human life — which will end in a year or two, maybe sooner.”

In court, Kalashnikov did not deny writing the messages but insisted he had no intention of persuading his son to switch sides. He said the exchange was meant as a joke. In his final statement, he declared that he had “always supported Putin” and United Russia, and that his comments were simply an “emotional reaction to current events.”

Kalashnikov was first detained in August 2024 by the FSB. In court, he said that officers searched his home without explanation, seized his devices, and used physical force during interrogation. He claimed they forced him to unlock his phone, twisted his fingers, and denied him access to a lawyer. Kalashnikov said he documented the injuries at a trauma clinic but later withdrew his complaint after an unknown woman approached him on the street and advised him to “take back the statement.”

Gennady Kalashnikov was born in Ukraine’s Luhansk region and spent his childhood between Vorkuta and the Ukrainian city of Antratsyt, which he called his hometown. The human rights organization Memorial has recognized Kalashnikov as a political prisoner.