The tractor driver was sentenced to 9 years for the questionnaire about joining the Ukrainian “legion”

The Second Western District Military Court sentenced Ivan Fokin, a 28-year-old tractor driver from the Belgorod region, to nine years in prison and a fine of 50,000 rubles on charges of attempted treason, participation in the activities of a terrorist organization, storage of ammunition and explosives, as well as manufacturing and storage drugs

The first two years he will spend in prison, the remaining term – in a colony of strict regime, notes “Nastoyaschee Vremya”.

As “Kommersant” reports, the basis of the case is the accusation of Fokin’s request to join an armed formation fighting on the side of Ukraine. In the publication, it is called the “Russian Legion” (probably referring to the “Freedom of Russia” legion, recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia – hence another charge).

According to the investigation, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ivan Fokin filled out an application for joining the legion and began preparing to cross the border, but in June of last year he was detained by FSB officers. It is claimed that he was found with an F-1 grenade without a fuse and five automatic cartridges, as well as 38.5 grams of marijuana.

Fokin stated that he sent the questionnaire “stupidly” and later decided to refuse to join the legion, and also that in any case he was not going to participate in hostilities, he sent the questionnaire for the position of an ambulance driver. Fokin did not deny keeping drugs for personal use, as well as one cartridge, but claimed that a grenade and four cartridges were thrown to him. According to his lawyer, there were no genetic traces of the defendant on the four cartridges and the grenade.

The FSB regularly reports on the detention of persons who, according to the investigation, want to participate in hostilities on the side of Ukraine. As a rule, they are accused of attempted treason.