A local historian from Tatarstan has been convicted over an anti-war post and an appeal from the “Freedom of Russia” Legion.

On 28 April, the Central District Military Court sentenced 71-year-old Fazyl Valiahmetov to six years in a penal colony on charges of repeated “discrediting of the army” (under Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code) and “justification of terrorism” (under Article 205.2, Part 2).

He was also banned from administering websites for three and a half years.

The local historian was charged with “discrediting” the army over a post in Tatar on VKontakte in which he condemned the war.

'Globalisation is taking place on our planet; borders are practically disappearing (for example, in Europe). Live where you like, buy land, a house, start your own business, and so on. After all, there is no need to seize any country, create new borders, <…> destroy cities, or kill tens of thousands of people. So, ordinary people do not need this. This particular grief appears to be necessary only for ‘politicians,’ just to show themselves, to boast about having taken some action, using the basest human instincts of scoundrels, and to remain in power, playing with them, ' the post said.

The “justification of terrorism” charge against Valiahmetov was brought over his publication of a video address from the “Freedom of Russia” Legion to Russian citizens.

• The local historian was detained in December 2024. At that time, he was remanded to a pre-trial detention centre, despite having stage 3 hypertension. His lawyer said this condition should preclude detention.
• Initially, the elderly man was accused of “discrediting” the army over five posts. In one of them, he wrote: 'Why do people kill others in wars or die themselves? Is it because there is not enough food? No clothes? Not enough land? Don’t want to raise, educate children? Don’t want to enjoy life in retirement? Or maybe there aren’t enough brains in their heads.' The final indictment for this article included only one episode.
• Valiahmetov is a veteran of the Tatar national movement. In 1991, he took part in a political hunger strike for the sovereignty of Tatarstan and against holding Russian presidential elections in the republic. From 1991 to 2004, he was a correspondent for the newspaper Voice of Bugulma, and in 2004 he opened a museum-library dedicated to Hadi Atlasi, a repressed Tatar public figure and historian-turcologist.