In St. Petersburg, Yevgeny Britanishsky was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison in a case involving justification of terrorism

As Radio Svoboda writes, the sentence was handed down by the 1st Western District Military Court in St. Petersburg. The court found 51-year-old Yevgeny Britanishsky guilty of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison; the hearings were held behind closed doors.

The case was prompted by an internet comment consisting of a single word. It is not disclosed which word exactly became the basis for the prosecution, and Britanishsky himself did not admit guilt.

Yevgeny Britanishsky was detained at the end of March 2026, and a search was conducted the same day in the communal apartment where he lives. Before his detention, he was engaged in building design.

Britanishsky is the son of restorer Yevgeny Britanishsky; as Slovo zashchity notes, about a third of the statues in St. Petersburg’s Summer Garden are copies made by his father. He is also the nephew of poet Vladimir Britanishsky, a translator of American and Polish poetry whose work influenced Joseph Brodsky.

Sources

• Radio Svoboda