A young Russian man imprisoned in Chechnya for allegedly burning a Quran faces new charges of “high treason” that could see him sentenced to life in prison, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office said Thursday.
Nikita Zhuravel, 20, is serving three-and-a-half years in Chechen prison for “offending religious believers” and “hooliganism” after he was accused of burning a Quran outside a mosque in his hometown of Volgograd.
The Volgograd regional Prosecutor’s Office has now approved charges of “high treason” against Zhuravel.
Investigators claim that Zhuravel “proactively offered cooperation” to a representative of Ukraine’s SBU security service in March 2023. He allegedly sent this representative videos of a train carrying military equipment and military aircraft as well as data on the movement of a Russian military service vehicle.
Under the new charges, Zhuravel could face a sentence of up to life imprisonment.
In August 2023, Zhuravel was assaulted in pre-trial detention by Adam Kadyrov, the then-15-year-old son of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
Adam Kadyrov escaped punishment for the incident and was even praised by his father and other Chechen officials. One lawmaker called Zhuravel “subhuman” and claimed that Kadyrov had “acted humanely” by letting him live.
Adam Kadyrov has been given numerous awards since the incident, including Chechnya’s highest award, the Order of Akhmat Kadyrov.
The Memorial human rights group has named Zhuravel a political prisoner.
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