Russian courts convicted 2,078 people on terrorism-related charges in 2025, more than double the 1,021 convicted in 2024 and the highest number since the current Criminal Code took effect, according to a tally by the human rights project First Department and analysts at Parubets Analytics. The researchers compiled the data from court records, agency press releases and media reports, as the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court has not published official statistics for 2025.
Courts issued 1,776 verdicts under Articles 205–205.5 of the Criminal Code over the year, meaning more than seven verdicts were handed down each working day across the country.
Nearly half of those convicted — 889 people — were sentenced under Article 205.2, which covers public calls for terrorism, justification or propaganda of terrorism. For 588 of them, that was the sole charge, meaning they were prosecuted exclusively for their statements, including online.
At least 630 of those convicted — almost a third of the total — were Ukrainian citizens, including both prisoners of war and civilians.
Human rights group Memorial identified signs of political persecution in the cases of 929 convicts, or 45% of the total.
Sentences under terrorism articles matched those for high treason: more than half of those with known sentences received between 15 years and life imprisonment. Life terms were handed to 15 defendants. The youngest convict was 14 years old.
Terrorism-related prosecutions were four times more frequent than cases of high treason and espionage — 2,078 versus 478 people. At the same time, 166 people (8%) faced hybrid charges combining terrorism articles with high treason or espionage.
Over the entire year, courts dismissed only three cases in this category: two for lack of corpus delicti and one due to the statute of limitations expiring.