Ian Kulikov
Ian Kulikov, born 1980, Kostroma Oblast. Charges: Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code (Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government…); “The case of "fakes" about the Russian Armed Forces in Kostroma region”. Sentence (November 11, 2025): 5 years' imprisonment in a general regime penal colony and a ban on administering websites and internet channels for 4… Status: not in Russia.
In brief
Kostroma Oblast · NULL · Entrepreneurs · Anti-war cases
Sentence
5 years
imprisonment in a general regime penal colony and a ban on administering websites and internet channels for 4 years
First instance, December 29, 2023: 6 months' corrective labor work
Charges
- Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code — Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government agencies, or mercenaries (based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on grounds of hatred or enmity in relation to any social group)
Full wording of the charges
The case was opened on the basis of his publications on VKontakte on July, 16th and 17th - one was regarding the Russian Army shelling residential areas of the city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk region with a Grad multiple launch rocket system, while the other was about the constant shelling by the Russian Army of civilian infrastructure and civilians in the Ukrainian cities of Vinnitsa, Kremenchug, Chasov Yar, Mariupol, Odesa, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv and others, in February and March.
Latest event
November 11, 2025 — appeal
The court changed the sentence to 5 years.
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
sentence changed · 5 years
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict
· Persecution begins
The case of "fakes" about the Russian Armed Forces in Kostroma region
Criminal case
The case of "fakes" about the Russian Armed Forces in Kostroma region
- Case number
- 1-50/2023
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Details and sources
Full summary
A resident of Soligalich (Kostroma region), owner of a bookshop. A case was brought against him for spreading deliberately false information about the Armed Forces. He was under a recognisance not to abscond. On 29th of December 2023, Kulikov was sentenced to six months of corrective labour. On 6th of March 2024, the court of appeal reduced the sentence by one month. On 19th of December 2024, the court of cassation instance cancelled the sentence and returned the case to the prosecutor's office. After that, the charges were increased, adding the motive of political hatred, and in May 2025, the case came back to court.
On 11th of September 2025, Kulikov was given a five-year suspended sentence. On 11th November, on appeal, the court replaced the suspended sentence with a real one. Kulikov did not come to the hearing, as he's a caretaker of his sick mother. The court decided to take him into custody at his arrest. Kulikov managed to leave the country.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
- Preventive measures
- travel ban (written undertaking)
Other people prosecuted under Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.