Maxim Chikhunov

Vladivostok resident, CPRF activist. In October 2022, he published a video in which he stated that he would blow the memorial plaque of White General Mikhail Diterikhs "to smithereens", took a tube from a grenade launcher and pulled the trigger. A case of hooliganism with the use of an object used as a weapon was brought against Chikhunov. He was placed under house arrest, but later released on his own recognisance, and the charges were reduced, excluding the qualifying sign of using an object used as a weapon. At the end of January 2023, the investigation was completed, but then resumed and again qualified Chikhunov's actions under a more serious part of the article. On 15 February 2024, the court again reduced the charges and sentenced Chikhunov to a year of suspended sentence. The prosecutor's office appealed the sentence and demanded that the activist be sentenced to five years' imprisonment. On 20 May 2024, the court of appeals sentenced Chikhunov to three and a half years in a general regime colony. On 20 September 2024, the court of cassation instance cancelled the appeal ruling. The case was sent for reconsideration in the appeal instance. In November 2024, the appeal court again sentenced Chikhunov to three and a half years in a general regime colony.