Oleh Zharkov

A laborer who 'performed maintenance, household, and construction repair work.' He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The case originally involved 24 defendants. All of them had served in Azov at different times and in different roles. Many had never handled weapons or had left the military long before the war began. All are charged with the violent seizure of power (Part 4 of Article 35 and Article 278 of the Criminal Code) and with organizing the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Article 205.5). Some of the defendants are also accused of undergoing training for terrorist activity (Article 205.3). The prosecution requested sentences ranging from 16 to 24 years in prison, and all men are to serve their terms in high-security colonies. Two Ukrainian servicemen, Davyd Kasatkin and Dmytro Labynsky, were exchanged before the trial started. Oleksandr Ishchenko died in pre-trial detention. In September, nine Ukrainian women who had served in Azov, including eight cooks and a supply clerk, returned home in a prisoner exchange. Those defendants who were exchanged continue to be tried in absentia in Russia.

2020s

Cases of justifying terrorism Cases of terrorism

Reading time: 6 minutes.

The final statement

‘In the military unit where I worked, every single civilian person, they are all in Ukraine. Thank God they made it through the filtration procedures, two people were detained, but all of them were eventually let go. When I told the investigator about this, he shook his head and said: “You see, brother—there are no innocent people. If you’re walking free, it’s not because you deserve it. It’s because we messed up.“‘

There’s an old Soviet film called Officers. It’s in black and white, and Vasily Lanovoy plays one of the main roles. There’s a line in it: ‘Yes, brother, there is such a profession: to defend the homeland.’

Among those sitting here are four people who did just that: they defended their homeland, their country. They are servicemen, faithful to their duty and their oath. And I am deeply grateful to them. Because of people like them, and the thousands of others who stepped up to defend their homeland, my wife, who I’ve spent 30 years of my life with, and my 12‑year‑old son may yet return home.

My son will be able to go back to the school he attended before the war. And above that school, the Ukrainian flag will fly again, and the anthem will play, the one that begins: ‘Ще не вмерла України… (Ukraine’s glory and freedom have not yet perished…).’ I’m so glad. I believe it will happen. I know it will.

Another group, thank God they’re not here though they’re also on trial, is our girls. The cooks. I worked with them, and I never once saw any of them in uniform or holding a weapon. And yet now people try to stretch logic beyond all reason, comparing this to the Nuremberg trials. But I tried to remember a single case from history where a cook was tried for attempting to overthrow a government. Well then, congratulations on setting a new precedent.

Then there are others on trial here, former military servicemen. People like Oleksandr Mukhin, who performed guard duty. Or Yarik Zhdamarov, who was a dog handler; his job was to feed the dogs and teach them to bark properly. And for this they’re being labeled terrorists, fascists, Nazis. This is beyond absurd.

Exactly eight months ago we were moved from Pre‑Trial Detention Center No. 1 to No. 5. We were split into different cells. As we were settling in, they threw in five more people. We immediately realized these weren’t our people. They entered according to what you might call prison ‘etiquette.’

They introduced themselves right away, who they were, why they were imprisoned. It turned out one was a soldier accused of rape, another looting. And the third, I’ll use his own words, said he ‘put two sheep to sleep, and they were civilians.’ In plain language, he shot and killed two unarmed Ukrainian civilians. The others had equally ‘colorful’ charges. I don’t want to go into all of it. Eventually they realized they had been placed in a cell with Ukrainian citizens, and suddenly they wanted to move. They knocked, they begged. But that’s a different story, as Leonid Kanevsky would say.

Let me return to the point: Russian servicemen who committed looting, violence, and the killing of civilians, the same things we’re being accused of—are they fascists too, according to the theory of the expert summoned by the honorable prosecutor? If so, it turns everything upside down: they’re fascists serving in a fascist army. So now it’s fascists putting fascists on trial for fascism. What madness is that?

There’s another group of defendants, just a handful, who served in 2015 during the ATO, the Anti‑Terrorist Operation. A similar type of operation that the Russian army conducted in Grozny, Chechnya. Our ATO was a ‘light’ version by comparison. Let’s be honest: if it weren’t for certain characters like Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, and other wannabe Che Guevaras—yes, we have our share of useful idiots and traitorous politicians, people who sold out for thirty pieces of silver.

The judge demanded that Zharkov ‘speak more respectfully.’

I apologize, Your Honor. I’m not a linguist. I didn’t invent these words. If you look into the books of Varlam Shalamov or those of the Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn, you will find them there. You’ll even find them in the writings of Vladimir Medinsky, former Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation. He currently heads the Russian Writers’ Union and serves as an advisor to the President. So I believe my language is justified. If I’ve offended anyone, forgive me.

Yes, those people took part in the ATO. They fought back against separatism, something that flares up now and then in many countries. You know, there was a Russian politician who said that people who, with weapons in their hands and by using violence, try to change the state system and violate the country’s borders are separatists. He proposed applying the toughest measures against them. His name was Viktor Chernomyrdin.

Another politician, even more well‑known, went further. He said they’re not just separatists, they’re terrorists, and that they should be ‘flushed down the toilet.’ I won’t say his name aloud, it’s not customary anymore.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, who’s not a politician but a spiritual leader to many Orthodox believers, has also repeatedly stated in his speeches that in the 21st century any changes in the state should occur without the use of brute physical force, and that kindness should become the weapon. Here I fully agree with these great people.

And the last group of defendants—that would be me. I never served in the Ukrainian army. I served briefly in the Soviet army over 30 years ago. It’s no secret that any military base also employs civilians, electricians, plumbers, janitors, laundry staff, handymen. That’s what I was, a civilian worker. In the military unit where I worked, every single civilian person is in Ukraine. Thank God they made it through the filtration procedures; two people were detained, but all of them were eventually let go. When I told the investigator about this, he shook his head and said: “You see, brother, there are no innocent people. If you’re walking free, it’s not because you deserve it. It’s because we messed up.”

So in the end, it felt like they just grabbed people off the street. As the saying goes: ‘If there’s a person, we’ll find a charge.’ I’m not even talking about how many years they’ll give me—10, 20, 30—for me it’s still a death sentence. And yet every one of us, and all of us together, we’re still holding on to that one hope: that our country will bring us home.

Southern District Military Court, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

19 March 2025

Source: Mediazona

More about the case: Memorial

Photo: Alexandra Astakhova/Memorial