Postgraduate Anti-War Activist in St. Petersburg Walks Free After Controversial Sentence Reduction

A postgraduate student from St. Petersburg, who was incarcerated for vandalizing a military recruitment office in protest against the war in Ukraine, has been released from prison, independent media reported on Wednesday.

Vladimir Mironov, 27, was taken into custody in February 2023 after he broke windows and spray-painted anti-war messages on the walls of an army enlistment center.

In July 2024, he received a four-year prison sentence for charges including disturbing the peace and “discrediting” the Russian armed forces.

In February, an appellate court shortened Mironov’s sentence to three years and four months, with the time he spent in pre-trial detention being credited toward his sentence.

Despite not serving the entire sentence in calendar days, Russian law states that each day spent in pre-trial detention equates to one and a half days of the actual sentence, allowing Mironov to effectively complete his term upon his release on Wednesday.

Mironov, a student at St. Petersburg Academic University, admitted to some responsibility and compensated for damages. The messages he reportedly painted included “No to war,” “Stop the killing,” and “How much longer can you kill?”

The Memorial human rights organization classified Mironov as a political prisoner.

The Telegram news channel RusNews broadcast footage of his release from a penal colony in St. Petersburg, where Mironov remarked that his time in prison “went well” due to being “surrounded by good people.”