Kirill Butylin carried out the first known arson attack on a military enlistment office following the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 28 February 2022 the young man threw Molotov cocktails at the enlistment office in the town of Lukhovitsa in the Moscow region. Beforehand, he had painted the office gates with the colours of the Ukrainian flag and had written: “I won’t go to kill my brothers!” Kirill managed to upload the video of his action and his anti-war manifesto to the internet, but he was detained soon after.

On 15 March the Western Regional Military Court convicted Kirill Butylin for three offences: “vandalism” (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), a “terrorist act” (Point “c”, Part 2, Article 205), and “terrorist propaganda” (Part 2, Article 205.2). Butylin was sentenced 13 years imprisonment: the first three years he should spend in a high-security prison, and the rest in a strict penal colony.

On 17 May the Military Appeal Court considered the defence’s appeal against the imposed sentence. As relayed on SOTAvision from the courtroom, during the hearing, Kirill himself spoke out against the war in Ukraine and also said that Russia was recognised as a terrorist state, and therefore he couldn’t care less about its laws. Butylin’s final words to the court ended with the phrase: “Glory to Ukraine!”

The Appeal Court left the original decision unchanged, and imposed the sentence in full.

It should be remembered that arson attacks on military enlistment offices do not constitute terrorism. Even under Russian laws. In this, and in other similarly politically motivated cases, the Russian authorities are attempting to justify their own criminal acts in Ukraine with the harsh sentences they are handing out to opponents of the war.

You can write to Kirill Butylin, although he has said it is currently hard for him to reply from the pre-trial detention centre where he is held. Nonetheless, he will be glad to receive letters and news.

✉️Address for letters:
Russia, 107996, Moskva, ul. Matrosskaya Tishina, d. 18, SIZO-1,
Butylin Kirill Vladimirovich 2001 g.r.

📧 It is possible to send via the electronic service “FSIN-pismo” (sending from anywhere in the world, subject to payment by a Russian card) and the volunteer resource “Rosuznik” (sending from anywhere in the world and the ability to remain anonymous).

How to write a letter to a prisoner if you are not in Russia?

This article first appeared in Solidarity Zone.

Image: Gennady Grachev / Moscow, Matrosskaya Tishina prison / CC BY 2.0