On 10th September, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk, Russia, announced the verdict in the case of two anarchists, Anastasia Safonova and Dmitry Tsibukovsky, accused of a banner drop. The two were found guilty under the article on hooliganism (part 2 of article 213 of the Criminal Code). Safonova was sentenced to two, Tsibukovsky – to two and a half years in prison. And this was a light sentence, considering that  the prosecutor demanded that the anarchists recieve six years in a general regime penal colony.

In February 2018, the two allegedely hung a banner  reading “FSB is the main terrorist”, on the fence of the Federal Security Service (FSB) building in the city of Chelyabinsk, to show their solidarity with the “Network” defendants. Several days later, the FSB arrested four anarchists suspected of this act, including Dmitry Tsibukovsky and Anastasia Safonova. Tsibukovsky confessed to his “crimes” under torture.

In April 2020, Safonova and Tsibukovsky were detained and  sent to a pre-trial detention center. At the end of July, the measure of restraint was changed to house arrest, and in  November  – to a ban on certain actions.

Image: the action outside FSB headquarters, February 2018, Chelyabinsk. Source: Popular Self-Defence Group.