From American detention to Russian prison. After asylum rejection, Leonid Melekhin received a 6‑year sentence in Russia for hanging a Putin mannequin

Judge Igor Solomko of the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg has sentenced Perm activist Leonid Melekhin to six years in a general-regime penal colony, Mediazona has learned. Melekhin was found guilty on two counts of “public justification of terrorism” (Parts 1 and 2 of Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). In addition to the prison term, the court banned Melekhin from administering websites and online channels for two years.

The military court had been hearing Melekhin’s criminal case since May 6. The trial was held entirely behind closed doors at the request of prosecutor Maria Otradnova.

Otradnova argued for the secrecy of the proceedings by claiming that the “terrorist danger has increased” in the Sverdlovsk region. She insisted that a closed trial was necessary to “ensure the safety of the participants” in the process and to avoid disclosing the “methods and means of conducting operative-investigative activities.”

An anonymous source close to Melekhin previously told Mediazona that the case against him was initially triggered by a post on the Telegram channel of fellow Perm activist Yuri Bobrov, “Bobr. There and Back Again (An Immigration Diary)”. The post featured two photographs: one showing Melekhin at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing, and another showing a poster and a mannequin hanging from a rope, with a photograph of Vladimir Putin’s face.

“Putin V.V. murderer fascist usurper,” the poster read. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is the inaction of good people / a fascist to the gallows.”

However, by the time Melekhin’s case reached the Central District Military Court, it included two separate episodes of justifying terrorism. While the first episode stemmed from the mannequin stunt, the second was reportedly based on an internet comment. It remains unknown exactly what the comment said or where it was posted.

Sergei Fadeev, Melekhin’s current defense lawyer, did not respond to Mediazona’s questions.

In the summer of 2024, the 35-year-old businessman and activist from Perm requested political asylum in the United States but was ultimately denied. Melekhin spent roughly ten months languishing in U.S. immigration detention, spending his final months in the San Luis immigration prison in Arizona, a facility known for its harsh conditions.

Broken by his time in U.S. custody, Melekhin—according to Valery Kuznetsov, his former state-appointed lawyer—“asked to be sent back” to Russia himself, returning via “self-deportation.” Kuznetsov said that Melekhin about a criminal case but went anyway. He was arrested by the FSB immediately upon his arrival in July 2025.