The Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg ruled that the so-called Tyumen case will now be heard behind closed doors. The defendants’ support group reported the decision. According to information obtained by Mediazona, prosecutors asked to close the trial to avoid disclosing the “methods and goals of combating terrorism” and because the names of participants had been published by media outlets designated by the authorities as “foreign agents.”
Defense lawyers objected, but the court rejected their arguments. Until now, the proceedings had remained open for almost three years. Mediazona notes that the Central District Military Court began broadly shifting cases into closed session after a drone attack on April 25. On June 10, it also became known that Judge Sergei Rassokha had closed hearings in the separate case of another defendant, Roman Paklin.
In early September 2022, six anti-fascists from Yekaterinburg, Surgut, and Tyumen were arrested in the Tyumen case: Kirill Brik, Nikita Oleinik, Danil Chertykov, Deniz Aidyn, Yury Neznamov, and Roman Paklin. They were charged with illegal acquisition of explosives, manufacturing explosives, participation in a terrorist community, and preparing a terrorist attack. Chertykov was also charged with possession of potent substances.
The defendants said they were tortured after detention: shocked with electricity, suffocated with a plastic bag, beaten, and threatened with sexualized violence in order to force confessions. No criminal case was opened against law enforcement officers despite those allegations.
According to the prosecution, the defendants wrote a manifesto titled “Concept of the Vanguard of the People’s Will” and planned acts of sabotage against railway infrastructure and government sites in Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, and Surgut, including Police Department No. 12 and a district military enlistment office in Yekaterinburg.
After his arrest, Kirill Brik said he had incriminated himself under pressure, after beatings and threats. In February 2023, he waived his lawyer, later entered a pre-trial cooperation agreement, admitted guilt, and in May 2024 was sentenced to eight years in prison. The indictment said he gave investigators a detailed account of the role of each participant, the locations of covert meetings, where explosive devices were assembled, and the planned bombing sites.
Paklin’s case is being heard separately from the others. In the summer, he reported partial vision loss. All defendants except Brik deny guilt.