Russian man jailed for burning Koran sentenced to 14 years on charges of sedition in Ukraine

Written by Lucy Papachristou

Johannesburg – A Russian man serving a sentence for burning the Koran was found guilty by a court of a separate charge of attempted sedition and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

A regional court in Volgograd in southwestern Russia said it convicted Nikita Zhuravel, 20, of treason for communicating online with a member of the Security Service of Ukraine and for actions “directed against the security of the Russian Federation.”

Zhuravel’s case drew attention last year when Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov published a video showing his son Adam, then 15, hitting and kicking him while he was in prison in Chechnya awaiting trial for burning a Koran in his hometown of Volgograd.

Kadyrov, who is a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has made himself a staunch defender of Islam in the Muslim-majority country, where Zhuravel was transferred after what Russian investigators say was public pressure from Chechens.

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said last month that Zhuravel was also accused of sending photos of a freight train carrying warplanes, as well as information about the movements of a vehicle linked to a Russian military base to a representative of Ukrainian intelligence.

Zhuravel pleaded guilty, the court said in a statement to Telegram on Monday, adding that he had opposed what Moscow called its special military operation in Ukraine. It released a video showing armed guards leading Zhuravel, who has close-cropped hair and a short beard, down the courthouse steps in handcuffs.

Reuters could not immediately reach his lawyer to ask about the reported lawsuit and whether he plans to appeal. Sedition cases, held behind closed doors, will never result in acquittal, official statistics show.

The number of such cases has increased significantly in Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, as intelligence agencies are conducting a campaign to arrest suspected spies and foreign agents.

Yevgeny Smirnov, a member of a Russian law firm called Pervy Otdel (First Department) that has helped defend people accused of treason, said Russia’s Federal Security Service, FSB, sometimes tries to trap people.

He said the FSB contacted people known to be hostile to cyber warfare and encouraged them to commit crimes, such as setting fire to military facilities or sending sensitive information related to the Russian military.

Reuters could not independently verify his assertion. Russia rarely comments on individual criminal cases.

Zhuravel is serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence following his conviction in February under Russia’s anti-Christian law. Investigators say he admitted to publicly burning the Koran while being paid by Ukrainian intelligence.

It was not clear under what circumstances the allegations were made.

(Reporting and writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Philippa Fletcher)