The key facts

  • 35-year-old Dmitry Leonov received 10 years in a colony, the first three years of which in prison, and a fine of 100,000 rubles
  • According to the investigation, in 2012 he was a sharia judge in an illegal armed formation in Syria
  • He was extradited from Morocco in February 2026 following a request from the Prosecutor General's Office

Military court verdict

The First Western District Military Court sentenced 35-year-old Dmitry Leonov to 10 years of imprisonment for participating in the activities of the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in Russia). This was reported by the Prosecutor's Office of St. Petersburg. Under the court's decision, the convicted man will spend the first three years of his sentence in prison and the rest in a strict-regime colony; in addition, a fine of 100,000 rubles was imposed.

What the convicted man was charged with

According to the investigation, in 2012 Leonov, a native of the Leningrad region, was in Syria and took part in an illegal armed formation as a sharia judge — he resolved conflicts between rank-and-file members and leaders of the group. In the spring of 2015, the formation became part of the banned Jabhat al-Nusra, after which Leonov continued his activities in its interests, then hid from law enforcement agencies and was placed on an international wanted list.

Detention and extradition

The man was detained in Morocco. In February 2026, the authorities of the kingdom agreed to his extradition to Russia following a request from the Prosecutor General's Office. Thus, the case concluded more than a decade after the events of 2012 described by the investigation. Gazeta.Ru also recalls a verdict previously handed down in the Netherlands against a mother who allowed her son to join the terrorists.