Nuclear physicist Dmitry Bogmut gets 7 years in prison for “fakes” about the Russian army 

The 51-year-old from Gatchina near St. Petersburg took part in the hearing via video link from the Kresty detention centre, after the court denied his request to be present in person. Speaking to supporters who attended the hearing, Bogmut said he had been unable to reply to letters after being transferred to an overcrowded cell with noisy and often aggressive inmates.

He was remanded in custody in April 2024. The case against him stems from allegations that in 2023 he distributed “knowingly false information” about the Russian armed forces while at work in a neutron physics laboratory.

According to investigators, one of the materials in question was a report by Deutsche Welle on a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region in spring 2023, which killed two people and injured more than 40.

The charges were also based on screenshots of comments Bogmut allegedly posted on the IT forum iXBT, including: “How many thousands of lives has Putin already sacrificed in Ukraine? How many more will he sacrifice?”, “Zelensky faces a difficult task — he is the leader of a country at war, with the whole nation behind him”, and “Russians adore killers and rapists.”

In January, a court in Gatchina found that Bogmut had “disseminated false information about the aims and course of the ‘special military operation’” and sentenced him to seven years in a general-regime penal colony.

Bogmut has denied all charges. In his final statement to the court, he spoke of his pacifist beliefs.

“I cannot accept or understand this glorification of war,” he said. “From my point of view, resolving conflicts through military force is monstrous. Any war brings only blood, suffering and death.”

According to the outlet Bumaga, Bogmut lost 20 kilograms during his first six months in detention. His relatives say he believes he is suffering from nervous exhaustion. By November 2024, he reportedly weighed just 50 kilograms at a height of 182 cm. Despite repeated complaints, he was not given a medical examination and was also denied treatment for severe tooth pain.

Journalists report that pro-government media outlets have exerted pressure on his supporters. In July, the state news agency TASS published the surnames and initials of St Petersburg residents who attended court hearings in his case, citing a source who described them as “pro-Ukrainian activists”.

The same list had earlier appeared on an anonymous Telegram channel, which also published phone numbers and social media accounts of those individuals. Following the публикация, several reported receiving threats.