Kaliningrad lawyer sentenced to one year in penal colony for 500-rouble transfer to Anti-Corruption Foundation

Vladimir Sorokin, a 66-year-old lawyer, has been sentenced to one year in a general-regime penal colony and was remanded in custody in the courtroom on a charge of financing extremism. The verdict was announced on 4 June by the Central District Court of Kaliningrad.

Sorokin was charged over a transfer of 500 roubles to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in November 2021, under Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Russian Criminal Code. He denied the charge. The court, according to its press office, took into account mitigating circumstances — including his age, his state of health, and his mother’s, for whom he provides care.

The 500 roubles were ordered to be confiscated in favour of the state.

Sorokin was detained in September 2025; the pre-trial conditions imposed on him amounted to a prohibition of certain actions.

Vladimir Sorokin is a member of the Yabloko party and has served on the bureau of its Kaliningrad regional branch since 2023.