The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg sentenced Aleksandr Cherepanov and Ivan Koryukov to three years in prison each in a case over their escape from the local SIZO-1 remand prison and the theft of items from a country house. The report was published by Mediazona.
Taking an earlier verdict into account, Cherepanov was assigned eight years in a maximum-security penal colony, while Koryukov received 7.5 years. The new terms will be counted from the moment the second sentence was handed down.
In 2023, both men were detained over an attempted arson attack on a military enlistment office. Investigators said they had been promised 40,000 rubles for carrying it out. In 2024, the Central District Military Court sentenced Koryukov to 9.5 years in a maximum-security colony and Cherepanov to seven years.
In 2025, the two friends were being held in SIZO-1 in central Yekaterinburg. Their cells were opposite each other, and they were able to talk through the food hatches because, according to reports, the latch could be easily opened from the inside.
On the night of the escape, Cherepanov opened his own cell door and freed Koryukov. They then crossed the exercise yard, climbed into the detention center’s attic, passed through three lines of barbed wire, ran across the roof, and used a birch tree to get over the perimeter fence.
According to the outlet 66.ru, there had been no escapes from SIZO-1 for more than 30 years, since June 1994. After fleeing, the men spent a week wandering through forests and then entered a dacha, where they took clothes and canned food. Before leaving, reports said, they washed the dishes and cleaned up after themselves.
Cherepanov was detained the following night, and Koryukov was captured a week later. Both are now back in Yekaterinburg’s SIZO-1, but relatives say they are no longer allowed out of the punishment cell block. In addition, the Federal Penitentiary Service has presented them with a bill for 727,000 rubles.