The 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced 40-year-old Ivan Tsoy to three years in a general-regime penal colony in a case on justifying terrorism. The court’s press service reported the ruling.
Tsoy worked as chief specialist for production automation at the Federal Research Center for Virology and Microbiology. The criminal case against him was opened over a comment he posted under a video showing the aftermath of the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. The video had been published in a public Telegram group in October 2022.
According to the court’s press release, Tsoy’s words contained “signs of justifying the terrorist act committed on October 8.” The release also said the comment was linked to his negative attitude toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The court said the defendant admitted guilt.
On the morning of October 8, 2022, an explosion occurred on the Crimean Bridge. Five people were killed: the driver of the truck in which explosives were allegedly hidden, and four people in a passenger car that was next to the truck. After the fire, one span of the bridge collapsed into the water.
According to Russian security agencies, the bombing of the truck carrying explosives on the bridge was carried out with the help of eight people whom they linked to Ukrainian special services. Investigators said they included several businessmen, a farmer, and a truck driver.
The defendants themselves insisted they had been doing ordinary work and did not know explosives had been concealed in the cargo. In November 2025, all of them were sentenced to life imprisonment.