A resident of Sochi was convicted for donating to FBK*

The court in Sochi found local resident Vyacheslav Grishkov guilty of financing an extremist organization and sentenced him to a suspended term.

The case of Grishkov was considered by the Lazarevsky District Court of Sochi. The case against the man was initiated by the FSB department for the Krasnodar Territory, and the article charged against him for financing extremist activities (part 1 of article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of Russia) provides for a prison term of three to eight years.

As established by the court, in August 2021, Grishkov “familiarized himself with video material on the channel 'Alexei Navalny' and followed the call to finance through an American bank an organization that has been declared extremist in Russia. 'Grishkov made a series of money transfers totaling 2,100 rubles,' reported the United Press Service of the courts of Kuban.

Grishkov, according to the court's report, admitted his guilt. He stated that he was a “supporter of the opposition leader” and the video he watched prompted him to transfer money to the organization, despite its prohibition. The specific name of the organization is not mentioned in the report, but from the context, it is clear that it refers to the “Anti-Corruption Foundation”*.

The court sentenced Vyacheslav Grishkov to three years of imprisonment conditionally with a three-year probation period. The 'Caucasian Knot' currently has no comments from the accused or his lawyer regarding the verdict and plans for appeal.

Residents of southern Russia have repeatedly been held accountable for donations to the 'Anti-Corruption Foundation'* . The organization was recognized as extremist in August 2021, so the basis for prosecuting donors are transfers sent since that time.

In early September, it became known that a court in Moscow sentenced Elena Albegova, a native of North Ossetia, to three years in a penal colony for donations to FBK*; her case became the second known instance where a woman received a real sentence on such charges.

In September 2025, the Anapa District Court sentenced Alexander Protasov to a fine of 500,000 rubles due to a transfer of 500 rubles to FBK*. Earlier, Krasnodar resident Sergey Anosov received a fine of 600,000 rubles for a donation to FBK* of 2,100 rubles, and Ilya Bazikalov from Astrakhan was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 rubles.

At the end of May 2025, the court imposed one and a half years of compulsory labor on Krasnodar resident Dmitry Dyba, whose donations amounted to 1,050 rubles. The regional court subsequently overturned the sentence and sent the Dyba case for reconsideration. Following the review in March, Dyba was fined 300,000 rubles.

* the activities of the organization are recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.

** the activities of the company Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.