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Russian man's 14-year prison term was for 'high treason,' not burning Quran | Fact check
The claim: Man in Russia sentenced to 14 years in prison for burning Quran
A Nov. 26 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of an incarcerated man in his cell.
“BREAKING: Russia has sentenced a man to 14 years in prison for burning the Holy Quran,” the post’s text reads.
The post received more than 200 likes in a day. Similar versions of the claim were reposted thousands of times on X.
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Our rating: False
The man was sentenced to 14 years after he was found guilty of high treason. His conviction on a separate charge of burning the Quran took place months earlier and resulted in a significantly shorter term.
Treason conviction, not Quran burning, came with 14-year sentence
The post gets some key facts wrong about the legal issues faced by Nikita Zhuravel, a 20-year-old Russian man imprisoned in Chechnya.
The 14-year sentence referenced in the post was for his high treason conviction, not for burning the Quran. While Zhuravel was found guilty of crimes related to burning the religious text, that verdict took place in February and came with a shorter term of 3? years. He was several months into that sentence when Russian prosecutors charged him with treason.
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A regional court in southwestern Russia convicted him of high treason Nov. 25 and sentenced him to 14 years in prison, according to Russian prosecutors and multiple media reports. Zhuravel was accused in October of recording footage of a freight train carrying military equipment and warplanes and sending it to Ukraine’s security services.
That charge came months after his conviction on unrelated charges of violating Russia’s religious liberty and hooliganism laws connected to the burning of a copy of the Quran. Authorities arrested him in May 2023, accusing him of posting a video showing him setting fire to the document in front of a mosque and insulting Muslims. While in custody that August, he was beaten by the son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and a month later, Kadyrov posted video of the assault and called his son’s actions the “right thing” to do.
USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that videos show Russian military off the Florida coast and Russian nuclear bombers mobilizing in June after a Crimea attack.
One of the X accounts that shared the claim is operated by commentator Jackson Hinkle, who has previously spread pro-Russian misinformation. In a response to USA TODAY, Hinkle declined to provide evidence to support the claim. USA TODAY reached out to the Threads user who shared the claim but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
Commission on International Religious Freedom, accessed Nov. 27, Nikita Zhuravel
The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, Nov. 25, In Volgograd, a guilty verdict was issued in a criminal case of high treason
Reuters, Feb. 27, Russian beaten by Chechen leader's son is jailed for Koran burning
The Moscow Times, Oct. 3, Russian Beaten By Kadyrov's Son for Quran-Burning Charged With Treason
The Associated Press, Nov. 25, A Russian charged with sending video of military equipment to Ukraine gets 14 years in prison
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Post misleads about reason for Russian man's prison term | Fact check