Rustam Absalyamov

Resident of Sterlitamak (Bashkortostan). Worked at a private beekeeping equipment factory. On 26 March 2024, Ekaterina Mizulina, an advocate for Internet censorship, announced that she would ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to check his statements during YouTube streams. Among them was the statement that there was no mourning in Bashkortostan for those killed in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack. The day after Mizulina's post appeared, Absalyamov, as he later wrote from the pre-trial detention centre, voluntarily went to the main police department in Sterlitamak "to get to the bottom of the situation". No one in the department knew about the publication. Then the agents of the Center for Combating Extremism arrived and interrogated him until the evening. During the interrogation, the law enforcers recorded several videos of Absalyamov apologising, which were soon posted on the official channels of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB. On the same day, a case was opened against Absalyamov for public justification of terrorism. On 29 March 2024, he was placed in custody.

According to Absalyamov, his YouTube streams had rewind disabled. Thus, to record a particular passage, you have to turn the recording on beforehand. Because of this, he assumes that someone switched on the recording in advance and provoked him to make aggressive statements, insulting the Tatar and Bashkir people.

On 24 February 2025, Absalyamov was sentenced to three years in a general regime colony.