Ivan Fokin
Ivan Fokin, born 1995, Belgorod Oblast. Charges: Article 205.5 part 2 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Preparation for participation in the activities of a terrorist organization); Article 222 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Illicit trafficking in firearms or ammunition); Article 222.1 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Illegal acquisition, transfer, storage, transportation, shipment or bearing of explosive substances…); “The case of a tractor driver from the Belgorod region”. Sentence (March 29, 2024): 9 years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony. Status: imprisoned; deprived of liberty since July 5, 2023; place of detention: Penal colony No. 5, Ryazan Oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, September 29, 2025.
In brief
Belgorod Oblast · Belgorod · Manual workers · Terrorism cases
Sentence
9 years
of imprisonment in a strict regime colony
No information about an appeal ruling.
Charges
- Article 205.5 part 2 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Preparation for participation in the activities of a terrorist organization
- Article 222 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Illicit trafficking in firearms or ammunition
- Article 222.1 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Illegal acquisition, transfer, storage, transportation, shipment or bearing of explosive substances or explosive devices
- Article 228 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Significant drug trafficking
- Article 231 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Illegally growing plants containing narcotics by a group in particularly large amounts.
- Article 275 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Preparation for treason against the state (preparation for a crime)
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, he illegally stored ammunition, and also, according to the FSB, on the day when he was detained, he was planning to cross the border with Ukraine and start fighting as part of the Freedom of Russia legion.
Latest event
September 29, 2025 — recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, September 29, 2025
Timeline
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 9 years
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №3 (SIZO-3) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation for the Belgorod Oblast
· Persecution begins
The case of a tractor driver from the Belgorod region
Criminal case
The case of a tractor driver from the Belgorod region
Write a letter
Facility: Penal colony No. 5, Ryazan Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
391825, Рязанская область, Скопинский район, пос. Клекотки, р-н Скопинский, ул Новая, д. 1, ФКУ «ИК № 5 УФСИН России по Рязанской области», Фокин Иван Иванович, 1995 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
He is a tractor driver from the Belgorod region. In the summer of 2023, he was detained for allegedly being drunk in a public place; then a criminal case was opened against him for illegal arms trafficking (Article 222 of the Criminal Code), and on 4 October 2023, two more criminal cases were opened against him – for attempted treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) and attempted participation in a terrorist organisation (Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). On 10 October, he was added to the register of extremists and terrorists.
Fokin’s mother reported that she was able to get a visit with her son a month after his detention. Fokin said that on 27 June he was detained by patrol service officers when he was going home from work and “was drunk”, and then “they found some likes in his phone”. Fokin also told his mother that the grenade they found in his home had been planted there: they pulled a bag over his head, “got his hands wet with something and gave him something to hold”. Then, according to Tatyana, Fokin was put in an isolation centre, where he was beaten and forced to sign a confession.
On 29 March 2024, Fokin was sentenced to nine years in a strict regime colony.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 205.5 part 2 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.