During the debates in the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg, the prosecution requested compulsory treatment for the 65-year-old leftist activist from Nizhny Tagil, Andrey Fogel*, in the case of attempting to create a terrorist organization to target the top management of 'Uralvagonzavod', reported 'Mediazona'*. The FSB requested the compulsory treatment of the pensioner when referring the case to court.
According to the prosecution, Fogel had been preparing a terrorist cell to overthrow the government from 2021 until his arrest in January 2024. The first two years were 'theoretical work', as the examination classified seminars on socialism, the creation of a Coordination Council of the left opposition to participate in the city council elections in 2022, and participation in the movement 'For a New Socialism'.
After that, as the investigation claims, the pensioner moved to 'practical activities' — he began creating 'combat groups to eliminate the country's leadership', where the role of fighters was to be performed by active members of the 'Ural' special forces unit of the Russian National Guard, stationed in Nizhny Tagil. In the city itself, the group planned to carry out attacks on the top management of 'Uralvagonzavod': set fire to the car of the head of personnel Irina Artamonova, beat the director of economics and finance of UVZ Andrey Filippov, the director of legal affairs Sergey Belov, and the head of security Alexey Zakatov with a rod wrapped in rags. They also planned to kill the head of the Nizhny Tagil police, Ibragim Abdulkadyrov.
The accusation is based on hidden tape recordings of conversations between Fogel and his longtime acquaintance — a representative of the independent Tagil trade union 'Solidarity' and a worker of 'Uralvagonzavod' Pavel Sergieni, who cooperated with the FSB. As 'Mediazona' found out, he is also related to the criminal case against American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was sentenced to 16 years for 'espionage' and later released as part of an international prisoner exchange.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.
Photo: Mediazona