Russian court sentences history teacher to three years in prison for ‘justifying terrorism’ over Crimean bridge explosion remarks in class

A Russian court has sentenced Alexey Pokazanyev, a 30-year-old history and social studies teacher, to three years in prison for “justifying terrorism,” according to the court’s press service.

Prosecutors claimed that Pokazanyev, while speaking to a class of ninth-grade students, “commented on events related to a terrorist attack in the form of an explosion on the Crimean bridge” and allegedly made remarks “justifying an attempt on the life of the president of the Russian Federation.”

The court did not disclose the specific statements Pokazanyev made to his students.

The judge required just one hearing to deliver the sentence, Mediazona reported. In July 2024, Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) designated Pokazanyev as an “extremist and terrorist.”