Boris Goncharenko
Boris Goncharenko, born 1988, Krasnodar Krai. Charges: Article 205.1 part 3, Russian Criminal Code (Complicity in terrorist activities); “The case of an arson attack on the military recruitment centre in Goryachiy Klyuch”. Sentence (January 13, 2025): 12 years of imprisonment, of which the first 4 years and 6 months in prison, the rest in a strict regime penal colony. Status: imprisoned; deprived of liberty since October 24, 2022; place of detention: Prison, Ulyanovsk Oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, February 26, 2024.
In brief
Krasnodar Krai · Krasnodar · Teachers · Anti-war cases, Terrorism cases
Sentence
12 years
of imprisonment, of which the first 4 years and 6 months in prison, the rest in a strict regime penal colony
Upheld December 3, 2025
Charges
- Article 205.1 part 3, Russian Criminal Code — Complicity in terrorist activities
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, on October 6, he threw four Molotov cocktails at the door of the military recruitment office in the town of Goryachiy Klyuch and fled the scene. The resulting fire was extinguished by a female employee of the military recruitment centre before the fire brigade arrived. Initially, Goncharenko was charged with attempted damage to property by arson (Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code), however then the charge was reclassified to committing a terrorist act by a group of persons with significant damage (paragraphs "a", "c" of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code). The investigation claims that the arson was planned "due to disagreement with the conduct of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine and the partial mobilisation of Russian citizens, with the aim of influencing the decisions of the Russian authorities to cease these actions".
Latest event
December 3, 2025 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, February 26, 2024
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 12 years
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №5 (SIZO-5) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation
· Persecution begins
The case of an arson attack on the military recruitment centre in Goryachiy Klyuch
Criminal case
The case of an arson attack on the military recruitment centre in Goryachiy Klyuch
Other defendants in the case
- Bogdan Abdurakhmanov — Imprisoned, 13 years
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Write a letter
Facility: Prison, Ulyanovsk Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
433513, ул. Калугина д. 66, Ульяновская область, г. Димитровград, ФКУ «Тюрьма УФСИН Ульяновской области», Гончаренко Борис Андреевич, 1988 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
School teacher in Goryachy Klyuch (Krasnodar Region). Participant of "What? Where? When?" [an intellectual game show] tournaments. On October 7, 2022, he was detained on suspicion of attempted arson of a military recruitment centre. Later, the charge was reclassified to committing a terrorist act by a group of persons with significant damage. On October 24, Goncharenko was taken into custody. During one of the hearings, another defendant in the case, Bogdan Abdurakhmanov, stated that he was the initiator of the arson, but, after being detained and subjected to torture, he was coerced into claiming that he acted under Goncharenko's orders. In October 2024, during court hearings, the prosecutor reclassified Goncharenko's charge to aiding terrorist activities, thereby rejecting the investigation's earlier version in which he was the initiator. On January 12, 2025, Goncharenko was sentenced to 12 years in a maximum security colony.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia