Kuban underground pensioners refuse to plead guilty

Nikolai Nabiev, Sergey Kuzovenko and Marina Zakharova, accused of creating an illegal armed formation (IAF), gave their final statements in court. None of them has pleaded guilty.

Nabiev, Kuzovenko and Zakharova were accused of creating an IAF and possessing weapons. According to the source, the case was fabricated and built "only on provocations" by FSB officers who bought alcoholic beverages and videoed the two pensioners during drinking parties within a year. The pensioners have been kept at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) for more than two years; they refuse to admit their guilt, claiming that they were trying to fight corruption in state bodies. The "Help for Political Prisoners" movement is regularly sending money to the accounts of the three pensioners within the FSIN (Russian Federal Penitentiary Service) system so that they can buy food and other necessary items while in custody.

Thus April, the prosecutor requested from 11 to 12.5 years of freedom deprivation for the defendants.

On May 29, the court session lasted about three hours; the pensioners were brought to the courtroom in handcuffs in a paddy wagon, sources in the court told the “Caucasian Knot”. During the entire hearing, the three defendants were not released from the cage.

Defendant Nikolai Nabiev gave a long speech: he mentioned that he lost his parents at the age of seven and was raised by his grandmother, at 16 he went to work at a state farm and worked as a long-distance truck driver for all subsequent years; he has awards and certificates for his labour achievements, as well as a disability category. Sergey Kuzovenko was extremely brief: in his last plea, he stated that no proofs of his guilt were presented by the court or investigators. The pensioner has noted that he doesn’t treat himself guilty of anything.

Marina Zakharova, according to sources, could not hold back during her speech and burst into tears at the phrase: "I ask the court to show humanity and justice." None of the pensioners pleaded guilty.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 30, 2025 at 02:55 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.