Boris Rudnitsky is a political prisoner
A St. Petersburg man was placed in pre-trial detention over the comment ‘Good news to start the day’ beneath a report about the death of a crime boss
Boris Rudnitsky is an employee of the Baltic Customs Office in St. Petersburg. In May 2026, he was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on charges of publicly justifying terrorism (Article 205.2, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code).
According to the investigation, in February 2025 Rudnitsky posted the comment ‘Good news to start the day‘ beneath an online report about an explosion at the Alye Parusa residential complex in Moscow, which killed Armen Sarkisyan, an organised crime figure and the founder of the ArBat Battalion. Initially, the criminal case concerning the explosion was investigated as a murder. Only about six months later was it reclassified as a terrorist attack. As a result of this reclassification, Rudnitsky’s comment was treated as justification of terrorism.
In May 2026, he was formally charged, and the court ordered his detention in a pre-trial detention centre. In June, the St. Petersburg City Court upheld that decision. It is known that Rudnitsky has pleaded not guilty.
We believe that Boris Rudnitsky’s prosecution is unlawful. Even if he did write the disputed comment, at the time it was posted the authorities were officially investigating the incident as a murder, not as a terrorist attack. The investigators themselves concluded that the explosion constituted terrorism only several months later. There are therefore no grounds to claim that the author of the comment was justifying terrorism rather than expressing an opinion about the death of a man who was widely described in the news as an organised crime figure.
The offence of public justification of terrorism is increasingly being used without proper grounds as a tool for politically motivated prosecution over statements made online.
A detailed description of Boris Rudnitsky’s case and of our position is available on our website.
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