The Moscow Garrison Military Court questioned Yuri Zakharenko, a colonel from the Defense Ministry’s service for troop security and military service safety, who is charged with abuse of office and financing “extremism” because of donations to FBK. A Mediazona correspondent reported from the courtroom.
Speaking about the transfers, Zakharenko said he first learned about Alexei Navalny in 2013, when Navalny was running for mayor of Moscow on an anti-corruption platform. According to the officer, in 2013-2018 he watched FBK videos on YouTube and sent the group 500-1,000 rubles at a time, but did not take part in rallies or other events.
Later, Zakharenko said, he increasingly came to view the foundation’s videos as commissioned material aimed at discrediting the authorities, and by 2019 he had completely lost interest in its work. During his master’s studies at RANEPA in 2019-2021, he said, he learned about the Kirovles case, and in 2020 he took note of Navalny being evacuated after his poisoning on a private plane.
“No such plane would have come for any of my relatives. Nor for me. And the German chancellor would not have come to visit me,” Zakharenko told the court.
According to his account, in 2021, after hearing on the Rossiya 1 channel that the foundation might still have old donors’ bank card details, he contacted Tinkoff Bank. He said the bank advised him to contact FBK directly. He could not find the necessary information on the foundation’s website, sent several emails, and received a reply with a link to check his subscription. Zakharenko said he opened it on his phone, did not review the page fully, entered his card details, and then the site froze. He said he did not notice any charge immediately afterward.
After being summoned to give explanations on June 23, 2025, the colonel checked his card transactions from the summer of 2020 onward and, he said, found seven charges of 1,000 rubles each to an American “Anti-Corruption Foundation.” He told the court that he had no wish or intent to make those payments and suggested that, while trying to verify an old subscription, he may have accidentally signed up for new charges. He also questioned how banks had allowed transfers to a banned organization, while noting that the American Anti-Corruption Foundation was designated an undesirable organization only in 2023.
Zakharenko also rejected the main abuse-of-office charge tied to the supply of Strazh security systems for weapons storage rooms. Investigators say the technical specifications omitted GSM modules for sending SMS alerts. The colonel argued that the cellular module was excluded because of a General Staff order abandoning that backup signaling method, and that the manufacturer, Argent-Alliance, later agreed to retrofit all delivered systems at its own expense. Zakharenko insists he acted lawfully and within his authority. His co-defendant is Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Baranov, who is also charged with abuse of office and taking a bribe.