On June 14, 2023, the Moscow City Court sentenced Muscovite Vitaly Koltsov to six years in prison for setting fire to a Rosgvardiya bus on Revolution Square in Moscow on May 2, 2022.

"The court found Koltsov guilty under Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional destruction or damage to property) and sentenced him to six years with serving his sentence in a general regime colony," the press service of the court reported. The prosecutor's office asked to sentence Koltsov to 19.5 years in prison.

As established by the court, on May 2, 2022, Koltsov put on a strict business suit, a white shirt and patent leather shoes. Taking with him two bottles with a combustible mixture, he went to the center of Moscow. Not far from the monument to Karl Marx on Revolution Square, a man saw two Rosgvardiya buses and threw Molotov cocktails at them. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the attacker was detained.

A criminal case was opened against Koltsov under the article on encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer (there were 12 OMON fighters on the buses) and intentional damage to the property of the Rosgvardiya, according to which he was threatened with life imprisonment.

The criminal himself claimed that he did not plan to kill anyone, but simply wanted to protest against detentions at rallies in this way, and also did not suspect that someone was on buses (as if they were always empty). And the most amazing thing is that he managed to convince the jury of this, who accepted this ridiculous argument. Yes, yes. The Koltsov case, despite the obvious terrorist component. considered by the jury.

Based on the attacker's explanations about his allegedly spontaneous action, it may seem that we are talking about an infantile dysfunctional teenager like those who are hired for such crimes by employees of the Ukrainian special services, having written off with them in social networks, and offering 5-10 thousand rubles for these actions.

However, Vitaly Koltsov is 46 years old. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Philology of the Russian State University and the father of three children. There is a well-thought-out preparation for a crime that could well be qualified as a terrorist attack. In addition to the pre-prepared incendiary mixture, it can be seen that the convict dressed as respectably as possible so as not to arouse suspicion from others and law enforcement officers.

Nevertheless, the jury found the defendant guilty only of property damage, but acquitted him under the article on the attempt on the life of law enforcement officers. And the court reclassified the charge against him as "the use of violence against a representative of the authorities." But Koltsov's defense went even further, demanding that his actions be qualified as "vandalism" with the imposition of a penalty in the form of arrest for a period of no more than 3 months. If such a term was appointed, Koltsov would have been released in the courtroom, since he had been in jail for more than a year.

However, it did not come to such an absurdity, but as a result, Koltsov received a sentence that is three times less than the one that the state prosecutor requested for him. It is noteworthy that a number of liberal-oriented resources posted materials with the headlines "The court acquitted a Muscovite who threw a Molotov cocktail into a paddy wagon." Just the second case of the terrorist Vera Zasulich! Recall that her acquittal by a jury, met with the jubilation of the "progressive public", caused an even greater wave of terrorism in the Russian Empire.

These analogies are not accidental. Koltsov himself claimed that his crime was nothing more than a "symbolic gesture." But he could be considered as such if, say, he attached a poster to the bus of the Rosgvardiya, or, for example, sprayed it with paint. Then, indeed, it could be about property damage or hooliganism. And so, by the logic that the jurors accepted, any terrorist attack can be considered as a "symbolic gesture". The fact that no one was injured by Koltsov's incendiary shells is nothing more than a happy accident.

The court and, probably, the investigation have not sufficiently worked out the motivational component of the criminal. So, for example, the criminal's sympathy for the Ukrainian Nazis completely fell out of their attention, his more than possible contacts with the Bandera special services or their proxies were not worked out. Koltsov himself assures that he has never been an activist and is indifferent to politics. So, it is logical to assume that someone pushed him to terrorism. But who this instigator or recruiter is has not been clarified.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the criminal tried to set fire to the Rosgvardiya bus on May 2, on the anniversary of the burning of anti-fascists by Ukrainian Nazis in 2014 in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa. Indeed, it is a symbolic gesture. But neither the investigation, nor the court, nor the jury paid attention to this symbolism.

The sympathy of the jury for the father of three children is quite understandable, as is the desire of the authorities not to overdo it and remain as humane as possible. However, in matters of national and public security, true humanity lies in an uncompromising and merciless struggle against those who encroach on it, especially in the interests of hostile States. Only this can not only secure and protect the lives of our fellow citizens, but also stop potential terrorists.