Vsevolod Kulikov is a political prisoner
A student from Lipetsk was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for allegedly preparing to set fire to an airfield runway and forwarding the contact details of the Freedom of Russia Legion
Vsevolod Kulikov is a student from Lipetsk. He is interested in computer games, reading, the art of Banksy, and anime. He was 19 years old at the time of his arrest.
According to the prosecution, in October 2022 Kulikov sent an acquaintance with whom he corresponded the email address of the Freedom of Russia Legion, which he had obtained from the unit’s official website. The acquaintance submitted an application to join the Legion and was detained by security forces in October 2022. As a result, Kulikov was charged with aiding terrorist activity (Part 1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). At the time, Vsevolod was 17 years old.
The prosecution further alleged that in January 2023 Kulikov himself began corresponding with representatives of the Legion and received instructions from them to set fire to the runway of a military airfield. To carry out the plan, he allegedly prepared five bottles filled with gasoline and hid them near the airfield. On this basis, he was charged with preparation for a terrorist attack (Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 1 of Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code). In addition, he was charged with preparation for high treason in the form of assisting a foreign state in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation (Part 1 of Article 30 and Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code).
On February 1, 2023, Kulikov was detained by the FSB and subsequently placed in pre-trial detention. In March, one of the pro-government Telegram channels published a video containing his confession. In the recording, he stated that he was ‘a supporter of anti-Russian views and nationalist ideology’ and had cooperated with the Legion. The video showed that Kulikov had a wound on his forehead and that his face had been covered with brilliant green antiseptic. Later, in correspondence, Kulikov stated that he had been tortured after his arrest in order to obtain a confession.
On April 2, 2024, the court sentenced Kulikov to nine years in a strict-regime penal colony. In July 2024, the appellate court reduced the sentence by two months.
We consider it absurd to characterize an alleged attempt to set fire to an airfield runway — an enormous area of solid concrete pavement — using a small quantity of gasoline as a terrorist attack. The charge of aiding terrorism by sharing publicly available contact information for a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Freedom of Russia Legion, is equally unfounded. The high treason charge also contradicts the charge of aiding terrorism: in the first instance, the court treated assistance to the Freedom of Russia Legion as assistance to a hostile foreign state, while in the second it characterized the same conduct as assistance to an illegal armed formation.
The circumstances of the case also give grounds to suspect that the charges resulted from FSB provocation or the fabrication of evidence.
A detailed description of Vsevolod Kulikov’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
You can write to Vsevolod Kulikov at the following address:
Ru:
433300, Ульяновская область, г. Новоульяновск, п. Северный, ФКУ ИК-2 УФСИН России по Ульяновской области, Куликов Всеволод Алексеевич, 2004 г. р.
En:
Penal Сolony No. 2, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Uliyanovsk Oblast, Severny settlement, Novoulyanovsk, Ulyanovsk Oblast, 433300, Russia, Kulikov Vsevolod Alekseevich, born 2004.
Updates on Vsevolod Kulikov’s case can be followed through his support group’s Telegram channel.
You can also send emails via the ZT service (for payment with all bank cards), and Memorial-France (free of charge).
Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the intended recipient.
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
