The Kirovsky District Court of Irkutsk sent Sergei Uglyanitsa, an entrepreneur from Usolye-Sibirskoye, to a pre-trial detention center, Mediazona reported, citing data on the regional court's website.
Uglyanitsa is charged under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code, which covers public justification of terrorism on the internet. The court materials contain no specific details of what the entrepreneur is accused of.
Uglyanitsa is a former deputy of the Usolye-Sibirskoye city duma from the Communist Party and the owner of the company Lesexport. In 2021, he ran for the State Duma on the Yabloko ticket in a single-mandate district and lost to Sergei Ten of United Russia.
In 2019, two unidentified attackers assaulted the entrepreneur and beat him severely. Uglyanitsa linked the attack to his criticism of then-governor Sergei Levchenko, who publicly rejected the suggestion that he was involved.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Uglyanitsa took an anti-war position. He voiced it during a confession in an Orthodox church in the village of Telma, after which the local priest denounced him. According to Lyudi Baikala, the priest said the entrepreneur had spoken of wanting to see Ukraine win and the Ukrainian army march across Red Square.
After the denunciation, two protocols were drawn up against Uglyanitsa for inciting hatred, but the court terminated both proceedings because the statute of limitations for prosecution had expired.
In 2024, the entrepreneur ran as an independent candidate in elections to the duma of the Cheremkhovo district of the Irkutsk region. He openly opposed the war and demanded a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, and Yabloko supported his candidacy. Uglyanitsa finished second in his district.