A 26-year-old citizen of Tajikistan, Bahodour Zuhurov, was detained in St. Petersburg on March 27.

The Investigative Committee’s Office in St. Petersburg says the Investigative Department of St. Petersburg’s Vyborg district has charged him with committing a crime under Article 205.2 (2) of Russia’s Penal Code – justification of terrorism and the issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention is being decided.  

According to investigators, between March 24 and March 25, 2024, the suspect published comments on the Internet justifying the Crocus City Hall terror attack; an investigation is under way.  

If convicted, Zuhurov could face up to seven years in prison. 

Meanwhile, Astra reports that what exactly these comments were and whether Bahodour Zuhurov actually published them is unknown.

Earlier it became known that another citizen of Tajikistan, Ahmad Faizullokhonzoda, will be deported from the Russian Federation.  He was allegedly a member of the Telegram group, through which those accused of the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack were recruited. 

The court ordered him to pay a fine of 5,000 rubles and he was placed in a temporary detention center for foreign citizens, Ms. Darya Lebvedeva, a spokeswoman for St. Petersburg courts, said on March 27.