Anatoly Lipkovsky is a political prisoner
A resident of Altai Krai sentenced to five years in prison for four “criminal” comments, including the word “bravo”
Anatoly Lipkovsky, a resident of the village of Shimolino in Altai Krai, was detained presumably on May 21, 2024. His home was searched and his mobile phone was confiscated, while the court ordered him not to leave his place of residence. He was charged under two articles: justification of terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) and calls for extremist activity (Article 280 of the Russian Criminal Code). All of the comments had been posted two or three years before the criminal case was opened.
In one of them, Lipkovsky commented on a video showing a man who had come to a post office without a mask during the pandemic. After being refused his parcel, the man smashed a window with a chair and took the parcel himself. Lipkovsky approved of the man’s actions and remarked that “the same should be done to the Kremlin.” The court agreed that the comment constituted justification of terrorism and sentenced him to three years in prison for it.
Lipkovsky received the same sentence for a remark about the shooting of a military recruitment office employee in Irkutsk Oblast. The comment consisted of just one word: “bravo.” The comment “Well done, it was long overdue” about the attack on the Crimean Bridge was also classified as justification of terrorism, and the court imposed another three-year sentence for this episode.
Lipkovsky was charged under the article on extremism over a comment about the deployment of Russian “peacekeepers” to Kazakhstan amid mass protests in January 2022: “Kazakhs, beat these mercenaries, these bald-headed dogs.” The court sentenced him to two years in prison for this episode.
By partially aggregating the sentences, on January 23, 2025, the court sentenced Anatoly Lipkovsky to a total of five years in a general-regime penal colony. He was taken into custody in the courtroom.
We oppose the artificial and politically motivated criminalisation of statements that are incapable of inciting anyone to do anything and therefore pose no public danger. The classification of Lipkovsky’s comments under the terrorism and extremism laws is unfounded, and in the case of the comment about the incident at the post office, it is also outrageously absurd. Such actions by the security services and government-controlled courts allow the authorities to keep society in fear, while investigators and security-service officers can simulate useful activity, improve their performance indicators, and receive bonuses and new ranks.
A detailed description of Lipkovsky’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
You can write to Anatoly Lipkovsky at the following address:
Ru:
658209, Алтайский край, г. Рубцовск, ул. Тракторная, д. 23, ФКУ ИК-5 УФСИН России по Алтайскому краю, Липковский Анатолий Юрьевич, 1996 г. р.
En:
Anatoly Yuryevich Lipkovsky, born 1996, Penal Colony No. 5, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Altai Krai, 23 Traktornaya Street, Rubtsovsk, Altai Krai, 658209, Russia.
You can also send an email via ZT.
You can donate to help victims of political repression in Russia.
