A Tuapse resident was convicted of inciting violence against people from the Caucasus.

The Krasnodar Regional Court refused to reduce the sentence of Tuapse resident Alexander Maksimenko, who received a prison sentence for inciting violence based on ethnicity.

Alexander Maksimenko's case of public calls for extremist activity via the internet (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Russian Criminal Code) was initially heard by the Tuapse City Court.

The court found that the Tuapse resident left a comment on a social network inciting violent actions based on ethnicity, language, and origin. Maksimenko's comment specifically targeted "representatives of the peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia," the United Press Service of the Kuban Courts reported today.

Under the article, which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, Maksimenko received two years in a maximum-security penal colony with a three-year ban on administering websites and channels. He has appealed the sentence.

The Krasnodar Regional Court, after reviewing the appeal, refused to reconsider Maksimenko's sentence, upholding the decision of the Tuapse City Court. The sentence has entered into legal force.

The details of Tuapse native Alexander Maksimenko were added to the Rosfinmonitoring register of terrorists and extremists in mid-January. Maksimenko turned 40 on March 26, according to his entry in the register.