Nikita Zhuravel, who burned the Koran under the direction of the Ukrainian special services, was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison in a treason case. He will serve his sentence in a maximum security colony.
Zhuravel’s trial began on November 14 in Volgograd, where he burned the Koran last year.
In May 2023, Nikita Zhuravel, a resident of the Volgograd region, burned the Koran near the Cathedral Mosque building. He filmed his actions. After his arrest, he said that he carried out the action under the direction of the Ukrainian special services for a reward of 10 thousand rubles. The young man later sent the video to an SBU officer.
At the end of May 2023, a protest demonstration against attacks on the Koran was held in Grozny, in which about 60 thousand people participated.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation transferred the investigation of the case to the Chechen Republic. Zhuravel was handed over to Grozny at the end of May 2023. He was accused of insulting the feelings of believers (second part of article 148 of the Criminal Code) and hooliganism motivated by religious hatred (second part of article 213). He pleaded guilty to one of the articles, part 2 of article 148, and also apologized to Muslims for his action.
On February 27, the Visaitovsky District Court of Grozny sentenced Zhuravel to 3.5 years in prison for insulting the feelings of believers and for hooliganism.
In early October, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation announced that an indictment had been approved in a new criminal case against Zhuravel, initiated under the article of treason. According to investigators, in March 2023 he provided the SBU with video images of a train carrying military equipment. Zhuravel’s new case was received by the Volgograd Regional Court.
