Evgenia Berkovich
Evgenia Berkovich, born 1985, Moscow. Charges: Article 205.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code (Public incitement to terrorism or justification of terrorism (using media or the internet)); “The case of Finist, Yasniy Sokol ("Finist, the Brave Falcon")”. Sentence (August 19, 2025): 5 years 7 months' imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. Status: imprisoned; deprived of liberty since May 4, 2023; place of detention: Penal colony No. 3, Kostroma Oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, September 27, 2023.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow, Saint Petersburg · Artists · Terrorism cases
Sentence
5 years 7 months
imprisonment in a general regime penal colony
First instance, July 8, 2024: 6 years
Charges
- Article 205.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Public incitement to terrorism or justification of terrorism (using media or the internet)
Full wording of the charges
The reason for initiating the case was the play Finist, the Brave Falcon, which Berkovich staged in 2020 based on Svetlana Petriychuk's play about women involved with radical Islamists.
Latest event
August 19, 2025 — cassation
The court upheld the verdict.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, September 27, 2023
Timeline
· Cassation ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 6 years
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Persecution begins
The case of Finist, Yasniy Sokol ("Finist, the Brave Falcon")
· Preventive measure: placement in a temporary detention facility
TDF of the Department of Internal Affairs of the North-Eastern Administrative District of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow
Criminal case
The case of Finist, Yasniy Sokol ("Finist, the Brave Falcon")
- Case number
- 1-92/2024
Other defendants in the case
- Svetlana Petriichuk — Imprisoned, 5 years 10 months
Write a letter
Facility: Penal colony No. 3, Kostroma Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
156511, Костромская обл., Костромской район, пос. Прибрежный, ул. Мира, 1, ФКУ «ИК № 3 УФСИН России по Костромской области», Беркович Евгения Борисовна, 1985 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
A director, a poet. The case against Berkovich was initiated because of the play she staged in 2020. The play titled Finist, the Brave Falcon was written by Svetlana Petriychuk and focuses on women involved with radical Islamists. In 2022, the play won two Golden Mask awards. On 4 May 2023, Berkovich's home in Moscow was searched, along with those of her parents and grandmother in Saint Petersburg. Alexander Andrievich, who is the director of the SOSO Daughters Theatre where the play was staged, was questioned as a witness. Berkovich was placed in custody the next day. During the first court session on the merits of the case, it became known that complaints regarding a poem written by Berkovich had been attached to the case. The poem includes the following line: "Conscripts are flying in the sky..." After the prosecutor read the poem, Berkovich said it was compiled from her various works. On 13 July 2024, the court closed the trial in favour of the prosecution, following statemens from the prosecutor about a witness receiving threats. On 8 July, Berkovich was sentenced to 6 years in a general regime colony. On 25 December 2024, the appeal court reduced the sentence by 5 months.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 205.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.