Petrov Aleksei Viktorovich
Alexey Petrov is charged with terrorist activity (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) based on a Facebook post dated August 13, 2020. In the post, he ironically commented on an article about a COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting "injecting this vaccine into the Kremlin's Kashchei." Investigators, relying on a specialist's report, interpreted this as a call to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. Previously, in August 2024, a fraud case (Part 1, Article 159.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) was opened against Petrov. Analysts believe this case was used to conduct searches and gather evidence for a politically motivated case. The case is characterized by a number of procedural violations: the use of a specialist's report in lieu of a full-fledged expert examination, the substitution of concepts, and exceeding the scope of one's jurisdiction. Petrov was arrested on January 6, 2025, in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and remanded in custody by the court. Investigators are also reviewing his statements for incitement to hatred (Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code). Petrov is currently in custody, and Rosfinmonitoring has added him to its list of terrorists and extremists.
