The 1st Western District Military Court sentenced 27-year-old Ukhta native Denis Propp to nine years in prison in a case over donations to Artpodgotovka. The Komi Political Prisoner project reported this, citing a letter from the convicted man.
The court found Propp guilty under Article 205.1, Part 1.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers financing terrorism. According to the project, he is to spend the first two years in prison, with the remainder of the term in a maximum-security penal colony.
“Denis has asked that no more letters be sent to him. We respect his decision and ask that his wishes be taken into account,” the Komi Political Prisoner project said.
Propp’s detention became known on February 12, when the Syktyvkar City Court in the Komi Republic placed him in pretrial detention. The statement on the preventive measure said that, while in the village of Izhma, the Ukhta native had transferred money to Artpodgotovka, which had been designated a terrorist organization. His name was later added to the Rosfinmonitoring registry.
On February 27, the Komi Supreme Court upheld the arrest order. His detention was then extended several times. The criminal case reached court on May 12, and the sentence was announced on June 5.
Artpodgotovka is a YouTube channel created by Vyacheslav Maltsev, who ran in the 2016 State Duma elections. On the channel, he spoke about a planned “peaceful revolution” and named its date as November 5, 2017. More than 400 people were detained across Russia that day, and dozens of Maltsev’s alleged supporters became defendants in criminal cases. Maltsev himself had already left Russia.
Ten days before the announced date, a court declared Artpodgotovka an extremist organization. Later, in 2021, the FSB singled out, on the basis of the movement, a “community created by V. V. Maltsev from among participants in the interregional public movement Artpodgotovka” and added it to the list of terrorist organizations.