Court upholds sentence of Russian teenager jailed for six years on terror charges

Balazeykin’s mother Tatyana has branded the ruling “barbaric”, adding that the judge had not taken into account Balazeykin’s congenital autoimmune hepatitis, which causes liver fibrosis that is advancing rapidly in prison.

Balazeykin was sentenced to six years in prison in November for throwing Molotov cocktails that failed to ignite at two military recruitment offices. While he was initially charged with hooliganism, investigators later decided to charge him under far more serious anti-terrorism legislation instead.

Balazeykin’s lawyer argued that there has been no criminal intent behind his actions that would warrant terror charges, demanding that the sentence be overturned as illegal and unjustified. “He did not try to intimidate the population, he did not try to influence the authorities decision making, he did not make any demands on them either verbally or in writing,” his lawyer Sergey Loktev said. “Most importantly, Yegor did not pose a risk to human life.”

His parents also accused the prosecution of providing insufficient evidence that the incendiary liquid that Balazeykin threw at the recruitment office was indeed a Molotov cocktail. They also noted that their son’s mental state had not been taken into account, given that his uncle had died fighting in Ukraine shortly before the arson attempts.

Balazeykin has maintained his anti-war stance during the court proceedings. “I’m not asking to be acquitted. I have nothing to justify myself for. I justify myself to me, and my conscience can judge me,” he said in his closing words to court in November.