University student sentenced to 16 years for alleged terrorist plot and Moscow military enlistment office reconnaissance

A Russian military court sentenced Belgorod University student Ibrahim Orudzhev to 16 years in prison for allegedly receiving terrorist training and preparing an attack. Police arrested Orudzhev in November 2023 for photographing a military enlistment office in Moscow and originally charged him with only the misdemeanor offense of disobeying law enforcement. 

Investigators later accused Orudzhev of “conducting reconnaissance of the area with the intent to commit arson” and claimed to have found at his home instructions with chemical formulas for making Molotov cocktails and a notebook describing an arson plot.

Orudzhev, who says he’s been tortured in jail and whom the Memorial human rights group has recognized as a political prisoner, says he was merely visiting a nearby veterinary clinic and photographed the posted operating hours, planning to register there. He volunteered to show the photos to police, and his lawyer later presented a receipt from the clinic in court.