The prosecution requested 12 years in a general regime colony for the 36-year-old resident of the village of Pangody in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Igor Yakunichev, who is being tried for anti-war videos on "VKontakte," reported the correspondent of "Mediazona"* from the hall of the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg. He is accused of spreading military "fakes" and justifying terrorism.
In addition to the actual sentence, the prosecutor asked to impose a ban on Yakunichev from administering websites and channels for seven years. As aggravating circumstances, the prosecution stated that Yakunichev did not pay the administrative fine imposed on him in 2022 under the article on "discrediting" the army, as he does not recognize this violation, and also claimed that the man "took measures" to move to Ukraine.
All charges are based on posts on "VKontakte" in 2022-2023, in which Yakunichev published videos of various bloggers about the crimes of Russian military in Bucha, the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP, and the activities of the "Freedom of Russia" legion**.
At the very first session, the judge expressed his opinion, calling the killings in Bucha an "orchestrated provocation by Ukraine."
Yakunichev did not plead guilty and said that he "systematized the facts of war crimes," described in the media and materials from UN meetings, and sent information to the military prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Defense of Russia, but the agencies found no violations.
Yakunichev was detained on April 2, 2024. Initially, he was released under a ban on certain actions, but a month later, the Salekhard City Court of YNAO placed Yakunichev in custody. In November 2024, Igor Yakunichev's case was submitted to the court, and since the end of December, he has been in Detention Center-5 in Yekaterinburg.
* Recognized as a "foreign agent" in Russia.