In October 2024, a military court announced the verdict in the case of arson of relay cabinets in the Krasnoyarsk region against 13 young people, among whom was 21-year-old resident of Mordovia, Artem Begoyan. This was already the second trial for the young man; in April last year, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison under articles on 'treason' and 'terrorism' due to attacks on railway infrastructure in Mordovia and Chuvashia. In total, Begoyan received 20 years of imprisonment.
In 2022, Begoyan joined a chat where ways to earn money were discussed. There he met a man who offered to commit arson for money. Artem believed he was communicating with a member of the 'Russian Volunteer Corps'* and could not only earn money but also disrupt supplies to the front. On December 14, 2022, he was detained. According to the verdict, Begoyan was coordinating arson in Telegram, but did not personally set anything on fire.
In February of this year, it became known that a new criminal case of 'justifying terrorism' was initiated against Begoyan, but details were only recently learned by those close to him. As reported by 'First Department'**, the young man's wife said that the reason was Begoyan's statements about the explosion on the Crimean bridge and the death of 'war correspondent' Vladlen Tatarsky during conversations with cellmates.
Previously, new criminal cases for conversations with cellmates were initiated against mathematician Azat Miftakhov***, who in March 2024 was sentenced under the same article to four years in a colony, and against former Moscow municipal deputy Alexei Gorinov, who in November last year was sentenced by the court to three years in a colony.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'terrorist organization'.
** Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.
*** Included in the register of 'terrorists and extremists'.