Russian Left Front leader Udaltsov sentenced to 6 years for justifying terrorism

The Second Western District Military Court in Russia has sentenced Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front, to six years in a strict-regime penal colony on charges of “justifying terrorism.”

Judge Sergei Brovko found the Russian politician guilty over publications supporting members of a Marxist group in the city of Ufa. The court also banned Udaltsov from managing internet resources for a period of three years.

“I protest this shameful decision”

Following the announcement of the verdict, Udaltsov reacted sharply to the court’s ruling. According to information shared with the RBC news outlet by his lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, Udaltsov stated: “I am declaring an indefinite hunger strike to protest this shameful decision. I will go without food for as long as my strength allows.” Udaltsov described the court’s conclusion as “disgraceful.”

Internet posts serve as the basis for the charges

According to the indictment, Udaltsov, acting as the coordinator of the Left Front social movement, published an article on the organization’s website on March 27, 2023, titled How they turned Marxists into terrorists: Ufa activists have been languishing in prison for a year on absurd charges.

The prosecutor stated that Udaltsov shared this material on his own Telegram channel and on the website of the Svobodnaya Pressa media outlet to reach a wider audience.

Additionally, Udaltsov was charged for sharing another article dated May 29, 2023, titled Stop persecuting Communists! Left Front held an action in Moscow to defend political prisoners.

Prosecution had requested a 7-year sentence

During the hearing held on December 25, prosecutor Ekaterina Frolova requested the maximum sentence for the alleged crime: seven years in prison and a five-year ban on social media use.

Lawyer Agranovsky recalled that his client said at the time, “I hope this is an emotional gesture and it does not come to that,” regarding the hunger strike declaration.

“No elements of a crime existed when the verdict was given”

In court, Udaltsov’s lawyer, Agranovsky, emphasized that at the time the posts in question were made, no verdict had yet been reached regarding the “Ufa Five.”

The lawyer described Judge Brovko’s decision in September to issue an indefinite stay of proceedings to wait for information from the Yekaterinburg Central District Military Court as illegal.

Agranovsky noted that numerous linguistic expert reports confirmed Udaltsov’s innocence, stating, “In the final report, experts noted that the politician’s publications contained no expressions approving of violence, destruction, acts considered terrorism, or the ideology of structures recognized as terrorist organizations.”

Another lawyer, Dmitry Repkin, evaluated the court’s move to withdraw for deliberation and announce the verdict on the same day—without informing the defense—as a violation of the politician’s constitutional rights.

Repkin stated that the court violated procedural rules by delivering the verdict in the absence of defense lawyers during a session he could not attend due to illness.

Background of the Ufa Five case

On December 16, a military court in Yekaterinburg found the “Ufa Five” group guilty of “preparing to seize power through violence,” “terrorist training,” “membership in a terrorist organization,” and “preparing for weapons trafficking.”

The group’s founder, physician Alexei Dmitriev, was sentenced to 20 years; Pavel Matisov, who participated in the conflicts in Donbass, received 22 years; retired Yury Yefimov was sentenced to 18 years; volunteer Rinat Burkeev received 16 years; and former Bashkortostan Deputy Dmitry Chuvilin was sentenced to 20 years.

The indictment alleged that the group members planned to forcibly establish Soviet power and bring back a communist regime across Russia, particularly in Bashkortostan, without elections. The defendants denied all charges.

Sergei Udaltsov was arrested in January 2024. The case was initially presided over by military judge Albert Trishkin, but Sergei Brovko took over the duties after a case was opened against Trishkin in July for allegedly wounding a taxi driver with a firearm during a road quarrel.

The prosecutor had requested a three-year suspended sentence for the dismissed judge, Trishkin.

During the trial process, Nina Ostanina and Denis Parfenov, members of parliament from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), testified in Udaltsov’s favor.

The MPs described Udaltsov as an experienced politician without radical views.

Udaltsov had previously been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in 2014 on charges of organizing mass riots and was released in 2017.

Most recently, the politician was detained in December 2023 for participating in an unauthorized demonstration in Red Square marking the birthday of Joseph Stalin.