Five Members of the ‘Ufa Marxist Circle’ Sentenced to Prison Terms of up to 22 Years

On 16 December, the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg found five members of a Marxist discussion group from Ufa guilty of preparing to seize state power by force and of terrorism-related offences. The verdict was reported by the independent media outlet Mediazona.

According to the prosecution, the members of the group, while ‘studying the ideas of Stalinism, came to the conclusion that violent change to the foundations of the constitutional order through an armed seizure of power was necessary’.

Pavel Matisov, a veteran of the conflict in Donbas, was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment. He is to serve the first eight years in a prison, with the remainder of the sentence to be served in a high-security penal colony.

Aleksei Dmitriev was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, including eight years in prison followed by transfer to a high-security penal colony.

Dmitry Chuvilin, a former deputy of the State Assembly (Kurultai) of Bashkortostan representing the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, with the first seven years to be served in prison and the remainder in a high-security penal colony.

Yury Yefimov, a pensioner, received an 18-year sentence, including seven years in prison followed by time in a high-security penal colony.

Rinat Burkeev, a volunteer with the ‘Union of Donbas Volunteers’ and an assistant to Chuvilin, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment, with the first seven years to be served in prison and the remainder in a high-security penal colony.

All five were convicted of attempted violent seizure of power (Article 30, Part 1 and Article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), attempted theft of weapons and explosive devices committed by a group (Article 30, Part 1 and Article 226, Part 4), and public justification of terrorism or calls to engage in terrorist activity (Article 205.2, Part 2).

Matisov was additionally found guilty of organising the activities of a terrorist organisation (Article 205.4, Part 1), while the other four were convicted of participation in such an organisation (Article 205.4, Part 2). He was also charged with the illegal acquisition, transfer, sale or storage of explosives (Article 222.1, Part 1) and with aiding terrorist activity (Article 205.1, Part 1). The remaining defendants were convicted of undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities (Article 205.3).

None of the defendants admitted guilt. Following the announcement of the verdict, they reportedly chanted ‘Fascists! Fascists!’ in the courtroom.

Testimony against the defendants was provided by another alleged member of the group, Sergei Sapozhnikov. According to the case materials, he secretly recorded audio of the group’s meetings and passed the recordings to the Federal Security Service (FSB). In February 2022, he also submitted a statement to the authorities alleging that the group was preparing crimes of a terrorist nature.