A barista from Stavropol received a lengthy prison sentence for attempting to poison military personnel.

A coffee shop employee in Stavropol was sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to investigators and the court, he mixed poison into the soldiers' drinks, acting in the interests of a terrorist organization.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced a Stavropol resident in a case of treason, terrorism, and extremism, the press service of the Stavropol Krai Prosecutor's Office reported.

"He was found guilty under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (treason), Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a terrorist organization), Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement of a person to commit a crime under Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public calls for extremist activity committed using the Internet)," the statement reads.

From April 2023 to August In 2024, the perpetrator worked in a coffee shop and repeatedly attempted to poison military personnel by slipping poison into their drinks. According to the agency, the man acted on behalf of a terrorist organization banned in Russia, the statement said.

The convicted man also collected and transmitted data on the locations of military units and administrative facilities in Stavropol to his handlers. He also attempted to recruit his acquaintances into terrorism and distributed comments on social media calling for extremism, Interfax reports, citing the FSB press service.

The court sentenced him to 20 years in prison, with the first four years to be served in a penal colony and the remainder in a maximum-security penal colony. The man was also banned from administering websites for two years.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in April, a military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Melitopol native Yegor Semenov to 27 years in prison, finding him guilty under Part 3 of Article 205 (terrorist attack using toxic, dangerous chemical substances) and Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code (high treason). Both the defense and the prosecution appealed this verdict. The appellate court sentenced him to life imprisonment.

According to investigators, in early 2023, Semenov was recruited by a Ukrainian intelligence officer and then tasked with organizing the murder of graduates of the Armavir Pilot School.

The graduates were celebrating their 20th anniversary of graduation at a restaurant; 77 people were present. Semenov sent them poisoned alcoholic drinks and a cake, disguised as a gift from a graduate who was unable to attend the reunion. The courier failed to reveal the sender's name, which seemed suspicious to the participants, so they refused to try the cake and reported the incident to the FSB.