Overview
- Vasily Kuksov was released from colony No.16 on 16 October 2026 and traveled by train to Serdobsk on the morning of 17 October to meet relatives.
- Kuksov had been sentenced to nine years in connection with the Network case and served those nine years after convictions handed down in 2022.
- The Network prosecution began in October 2017 when authorities accused anarchists and anti‑fascists in Penza and St. Petersburg of forming a so‑called terrorist community to plan attacks.
- Prosecutors relied heavily on testimony from Egor Zorin, who was detained with drugs, while six of the eleven accused reported beatings and other signs of coerced confessions.
- Some defendants with shorter terms have already been released, others remain in prison, and core convictions have not been overturned, keeping pressure on rights groups to seek reviews and public scrutiny.