Russia’s First Western District Military Court in St Petersburg has sentenced Dmitry Leonov to ten years in prison for participating in an organisation designated as terrorist under Russian law. According to the prosecutor’s office, he was in Syria in 2012 and acted as a sharia judge for an armed group that later joined Jabhat al-Nusra. His defence disputes his membership in the group, according to The Insider.
Leonov was extradited to Russia from Morocco in February 2026. The Insider cited a source familiar with the case who said Leonov had refugee status granted by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and that the agency had opposed his extradition.
The conviction for participation in a terrorist organisation does not mean Leonov was charged with carrying out a specific terrorist attack: the published prosecution statement contains no such allegation.