The Court of Cassation rejected Vadim Kharchenko's* appeal against the verdict.

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The appeal of Gelendzhik blogger Vadim Kharchenko* against the verdict was dismissed by the cassation court; the defense is preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," Vadim Kharchenko* was convicted on March 12, 2025, by the Gelendzhik City Court of Krasnodar Krai and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. He was found guilty of repeated discrediting of the Russian Armed Forces (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), insulting the feelings of believers (Part 1 of Article 148 of the Criminal Code), inciting extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code), and slander (Part 5 of Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code). On October 9, it was announced that a second case against Kharchenko* had been filed in court. The defense claims that the case is based on the same evidence as the previous one. However, at the very first hearing in this case, the judge recused herself.

The defense of Gelendzhik blogger Vadim Kharchenko* is preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court of Russia after the cassation court dismissed his appeal against the verdict, the convicted man's parents Natalya and Mikhail Kharchenko told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on February 21.

The case file on the website of the Fourth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction indicates that the appeal was dismissed, and the contested court decisions remain unchanged. The court's website does not list the names of the defendant or the victim, but only provides a list of the articles of the Russian Criminal Code under which the verdict was handed down.

According to the parents, an earlier appeal also yielded no results. "There was no response to our appeal to the president," they noted, recalling that they had previously publicly appealed to the head of state.

The parents also stated that the trial is being held behind closed doors. "All court hearings were closed. We don't know what's going on there. We haven't received any information about the progress of the investigation or the trials from the lawyers under the agreement. The reason for this is a big question," said Mikhail Kharchenko.

Natalya Kharchenko reported difficulties communicating with her son. "We contacted the lawyer regarding a visit with our son. She conveyed that Vadim isn't ready to see us. The reason? "To avoid upsetting us," the lawyer explained. "We haven't seen our son for three years and don't understand what's going on at all. In the letter to us, which is being censored, he wrote that he feels fine—that's all. Even if he doesn't feel well, he'll never say anything and won't complain, due to his nature," she said. However, according to his parents, their son's refusal to see them, supposedly to avoid upsetting them, is puzzling and alarming.

* is listed as a foreign agent.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.