Boris Stomakhin

Essayist and founder of the newspaper Radical Politics. On 17 November 2000, following the publication of Stomakhin’s article The Programme of the National Revolution and a series of political statements on the website of the Revolutionary Contact Association, the prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case against him. He was accused of calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, insulting a government official, and slandering a government official. In August 2001, the case was closed due to the absence of corpus delicti.

In 2002, a new criminal case was opened under Article 280 of the Russian Criminal Code in connection with further publications in Radical Politics. This case was closed in the summer of 2003.

In 2006, Stomakhin was convicted under Part 2 of Article 280 (“Public incitement to extremist activity”) and Part 1 of Article 282 (“Actions aimed at inciting hatred or enmity”) of the Russian Criminal Code. He was sentenced to five years in a general-regime penal colony and was banned from engaging in journalistic activity for three years. He served his sentence at Corrective Colony No. 4 in the village of Burepolom, Nizhnii Novgorod Region, and was released on 21 March 2011.

On 20 November 2012, Stomakhin was detained again, this time on suspicion of offences under Part 1 of Article 205.2 (“Public justification of terrorism”) and Part 1 of Article 282. Charges were formally brought the next day and concerned three articles published online. On 4 March 2013 the charges were expanded to include Part 1 of Article 280 (“Public calls for extremist activity”), with three additional texts added to the indictment.

On 24 April 2013, the charges were reclassified as more serious after investigators determined that the blog and website on which the texts appeared constituted “mass media”. Accordingly, the charges under Articles 280 and 205.2 were raised from Part 1 to Part 2. On 4 June 2013, a further charge was added: incitement of hatred towards Orthodox Christians, allegedly through “insulting references to the Most High” and “derogatory, insulting references to a saint” (as phrased in the indictment). Stomakhin was also charged with “preparation for public justification of terrorism committed through mass media” (Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 2 of Article 205.2), which included, among other things, “justification of the activities of terrorists who killed Alexander II”.

On 22 April 2014, Stomakhin was sentenced to six and a half years in a strict-regime penal colony. He was convicted under Part 2 of Article 205.2 (“Public justification or propaganda of terrorism via mass media”), Part 1 of Article 282, Part 2 of Article 280, and Part 1 of Article 30 combined with Part 2 of Article 205.2. On 15 July 2014, the Moscow City Court upheld the sentence, despite the expiry of the statute of limitations for several episodes. While serving his sentence, Stomakhin was accused of publishing, on 18 January 2014 on the LJ.Rossia platform, an article titled Or to Blow Up a Couple of Railway Stations Here!, concerning the December 2013 attacks in Volgograd. On 20 April 2015, the Moscow District Military Court sentenced him to a further three years in a strict-regime colony under Part 1 of Article 205.2. Taking into account his previous conviction, his total sentence amounted to seven years in a strict-regime colony, extending his imprisonment by six months. The court also imposed a five-year ban on practising journalism after release.

Stomakhin was released on 19 September 2019.

In May 2024, it was reported that a new case had been opened against him for disseminating knowingly false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. He was placed on a wanted list and arrested in absentia. In January 2025, the case went to trial, and it became known that he was also charged with incitement to hatred.

On 26 March 2025, Stomakhin was sentenced in absentia to ten years’ imprisonment.