“Granny, why am I in jail?” Tuberculosis‑stricken schoolboy jailed for 4.5 years in the Russian Far East on “terrorism” charges

The detention of then-14-year-old Valery and his 18-year-old friend Nikita in Solnechny, a 12,000-person village in Khabarovsk krai, became known in October 2023. According to Baza, a Telegram news media channel, the youths “sympathised” with the Ukrainian Azov Brigade: Nikita allegedly administered “groups and chats” on Telegram and VK, “propagating the battalion’s ideology,” while Valery “engaged in practical activities and also supported Azov.”

Nikita Turlaev, a young man pursuing a vocational qualification in finishing and decorative work at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur College of Technology and Service, was apprehended by FSB agents in the early hours of October 12 at his hall of residence, according to a fellow student who spoke to Mediazona.

Valery Zaitsev, 14, was taken into custody by authorities at the children’s unit of the tuberculosis dispensary in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where the boy had been receiving care for several months. In October 2023, the his grandfather verified to Mediazona that his grandson had been removed from the medical facility, noting that “everything was done properly there” and that investigators would “resolve” the matter.

The Investigative Committee made no announcement of the arrest, but Baza reported the prosecution’s account that 14-year-old Zaitsev had “sought out instructions on handling explosives and assembling Molotov cocktails,” in addition to “carrying out experiments and creating incendiary devices, testing them in isolated areas, and sharing the outcomes on a Telegram group.”

According to Valery’s schoolmates who spoke to Mediazona in October 2023, the reason for his apprehension might have been a mobile phone video that the teenager subsequently uploaded to his Telegram channel. The 24-second footage depicts three teenagers hurling Molotov cocktails at the wall of a derelict structure while another person records them.

“Why is it burning so fiercely?” one of the boys in the video exclaims.

“But I did nothing wrong!” 10 months in pre-trial detention

Irina Zaitseva, the apprehended teenager’s grandmother, told Mediazona that following Valery’s arrest in the fall of 2023, she and her husband were perplexed, alarmed, and “at a loss for what to do” as they had never before interacted with security services.

Zaitseva, now 68, assumed guardianship of her grandson when he was three years old. Valery’s parents, who are alcoholics, have been deprived of their parental rights; his father passed away last year.

According to Zaitseva, FSB agents arrived at their residence with a search warrant in October 2023 and seized the devices used by her grandson.

“Valery is a skier, a medallist,” the 68-year-old Irina Zaitseva sighs over the phone. “[The FSB officers] observed a multitude of medals hanging above his desk when they came to conduct the search.”

Several months prior to his arrest, physicians detected tuberculosis bacteria in the teenager’s system and referred him to the hospital. At Pre-Trial Detention Centre No. 2 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where Valery was held for 10 months, the boy’s family members were informed that his health was “fine,” Zaitseva tells Mediazona.

“They examined him initially when they admitted him,” she says. “They stated, ‘He’s all right.’ We can’t do anything, but he doesn’t complain about his condition.”

Following the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 14-year-old Valery “kept going on about this Ukraine,” his grandmother recollects.

“He expressed his opposition to the war,” she sighs. “He asked, ‘Why did we attack our brothers?’ and things like that. And what could I say? I replied, ‘It’s not for you and me to say!’ How would we know? Who are we? And we ceased discussing this subject. But I was unaware that he would go online and write about it!”

Irina communicates with the family of 19-year-old Nikita Turlaev, her grandson’s arrested companion. According to her, both detained youths were accused of the same crimes: involvement in the activities of a terrorist organisation (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and receiving training for the purpose of preparing for a terrorist act (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code). However, as reported by “First Department”, a human rights organisation, Turlaev is charged with inciting terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The case remains under investigation and has not yet been brought to trial, Zaitseva notes.

The village of Solnechny, where Valery’s grandparents reside, is situated 40 kilometres from Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Throughout the academic year, educators from his School No. 1 paid visits to Valery in the pre-trial detention centre; while incarcerated, the teenager completed ninth grade and passed his final examinations with grades of 4 (B), his grandmother reports.

“We had a visit, and he said, ‘Granny, don’t cry’,” Irina Zaitseva sobs. “He always believed that no one would imprison him. I said, ‘Valera, you are aware of your charges, right? And he replied, ‘But I did nothing wrong!’ Initially, after his arrival there, he couldn’t comprehend and told me, ‘Granny, why am I in jail? There are murderers here, some drug addict, thieves, fights... And why am I here?’ And I said, ‘And you’re here because where did you go? Who did you go against, damn it?’.”

Amur Battalion. Five days of trial and 4.5 years in prison

Zaitseva went to Khabarovsk for the trial; her grandson’s case was adjudicated by the 1st Eastern District Military Court behind closed doors over a span of five days. On August 16, Valery was sentenced to 4.5 years in an “educational colony,” a prison institution for young offenders. The prosecution sought a nine-year prison term, according to the teenager’s grandmother.

The pensioner is unable to recount the specifics of the prosecution’s case and merely states that her grandson “wrote all sorts of nonsense” about the war in Ukraine

“Initially, Nikita [Turlaev] formed a group. Valery was dissatisfied there; he needed to take more action,” Irina explains. “And then Valery established his own group. Oh...”

Based on leaked databases, Zaitsev had created at least four profiles on VK, including a blocked page with the nickname “Valera Krymsky.” The avatar of the “Valery Zaitsev” profile depicts a curly-haired boy pulling faces in front of a mirror. The status features two emojis—a Russian flag and a red heart—and the gallery contains photographs against the backdrop of garages and derelict buildings. However, one image stands out: in it, the teenager makes a victory sign, and the Kyiv Motherland Monument is photoshopped between his fingers.

The avatar of the “Valera Mirny” profile features a photo of the chevron of the Ukrainian Azov Brigade. Among the images in the gallery are a picture of hands with the middle finger raised against the background of police cars, as well as a photograph of Valery himself. Another page, with the nickname “Valera Pringles,” is concealed; an individual with that name is a member of a community titled “National Squad. Amur Battalion SSNIDO” with an image of a kolovrat on the avatar. Based on the information in the community, it was created on February 25, 2022, one day after the invasion started, and in January 2023, the group with three subscribers changed its name. “SSNIDO stands for ‘Union of Free Nations and Friendly Relations’,” the public page description states. There is also a channel with a similar name on Telegram, currently with no subscribers or publications.

“Provocateurs brought petrol.” Secret witness-provocateur

A secret witness, whose testimony laid the groundwork for the case, testified against Valery in court, the teenager’s grandmother told Mediazona. She says she encountered this man at a face-to-face confrontation where she was present as her grandson’s legal representative. In court, the “witness” testified via video conference with the camera turned off, but Zaitseva recognised his voice. She is convinced that her grandson was “provoked” and “set up.”

“Yes, there were provocateurs,” she ponders. “Valery also said many wrong things, of course. Well, about Ukraine, all that. But he didn’t do much! He’s a child, you understand, right?”

The video with the Molotov cocktail shot on a phone was also filmed by a provocateur, Zaitseva asserts. She claims that the secret witness, whose pseudonym she doesn’t remember, admitted this in court.

“The provocateurs brought this petrol, showed how to do everything, and Valery posted it,” she laments. “And it’s as if he wrote something else... I forgot... ‘There’s more to come,’ or something like that...”

Zaitseva surmises that this secret witness is either an FSB officer himself “or works with them.” She adds that the FSB officers she already knew waited in the court corridor every day until the hearings concluded.

“FSB members were in court constantly,” she says. “But they didn’t attend the trial, no. But they were there; we know them by now. Well, they just sat in the hall. No, Valery didn’t tell me about any pressure.”

According to Zaitseva, her grandson partially admitted guilt. The other witnesses in court were Valery’s classmates, she continues: “They brought children there [to court]. And they chose not the children who would say, ‘Valery didn’t say anything, nothing happened’; they didn’t bring those. They brought those who could say something. Probably scared them. Children are children.”

Irina Zaitseva describes her grandson’s lawyer as a “competent specialist” and believes that largely thanks to him, Valery received a considerably more lenient sentence than the prosecution requested. Zaitseva says that together with the defence attorney, they decided not to appeal the verdict.

The teenager was represented by court-appointed lawyer Konstantin Manuilov. He only began practising law in April 2023; a few years prior, he held the position of deputy head of the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The defence attorney did not respond to Mediazona’s inquiries about Valery Zaitsev’s case.

“I arrived at the interrogation, and this lawyer was already there,” Zaitseva recollects. “A very good lawyer. Although we don’t comprehend much about this case because we’ve lived for 70 years and have never encountered... But the lawyer is very, very good as a person.”

“Even I understand that there’s no need for an appeal, because if they requested nine years and gave 4.5 years, what does that indicate?” the pensioner ponders anxiously.

The articles of the Criminal Code the teenager was charged with typically do entail enormous prison terms: participation in the activities of a “terrorist organisation” carries a punishment of 10 to 20 years under the law, and training for terrorism—from 15 years to life. But that’s for adults; a court cannot sentence a minor to more than 10 years even on the most serious charges.

“The child ended up in prison,” Irina sobs, expressing her fear for her grandson and his fate in prison. “I don’t know at all, I don’t know how it’s going to be, I’m afraid.”

Editor: Egor Skovoroda