Samara resident Sergei Guskov sentenced to six and a half years for labelling russian military actions ‘expansionist’

A resident of Samara, Sergei Guskov, was sentenced on 28 April to six and a half years in a general-regime penal colony for comments posted on Telegram concerning the Russia-Ukraine war and the St George ribbon, according to the Samara Regional Court.

While the court’s official statement refers to the defendant only as ‘citizen G.’, the surname Guskov is clearly audible in a video released alongside the ruling. Sergei Guskov, a Samara native, was added to the state register of extremists in the summer of 2024. At the time, the monitoring project ‘Ink Ribbon’ noted that the volunteer search-and-rescue group LizaAlert had issued an appeal for Sergei Guskov on 16 June, stating his whereabouts had been unknown since 14 June. The search was abruptly called off on 18 June with no explanation provided.

Sergei Guskov was convicted under three specific articles of the Criminal Code:

• Desecration of a symbol of Russia’s military glory via the internet (Article 354.1, Part 4): This charge followed a comment containing ‘obscene language’ directed at the St George ribbon, as well as an assessment by Sergei Guskov describing the ribbon as having an ‘unsightly appearance’, expressed through words with ‘fixed negative connotations’.
• Public calls for extremism via the internet (Article 280, Part 2): This related to a post by Sergei Guskov urging the destruction of Russian servicemen participating in the invasion of Ukraine.
• Dissemination of ‘false information’ about the Russian Armed Forces motivated by hatred (Article 207.3, Part 2(d)): According to the court, Sergei Guskov’s comments contained claims regarding the ‘killing of hundreds of civilians in the city of Bucha’ and the assertion that the actions of the Russian military on Ukrainian territory are ‘expansionist’.