A 57-year-old Russian military school instructor is sentenced to eight years in prison after a court found him guilty of molesting a 16-year-old cadet.
Court verdicts say Vladimir Shchekotov, an instructor at the Yekaterinburg Suvorov Military School, invited a minor cadet to sauna at his countryside house (known as a “dacha” in Russian) and sexually assaulted him, Russian independent outlet Astra reported on Jan. 25.
The Chkalovsky District Court in Yekaterinburg convicted Shchekotov despite his not-guilty plea. In addition to the eight-year sentence, the court ordered him to pay the victim 200,000 rubles ($2,663) in compensation for “moral damages,” and imposed a further 18 months of “restricted freedom” after he completes his prison term.
“The court found that the teacher invited the minor student to his dacha for a sauna, where he committed sexual acts against him. The defendant did not admit guilt,” the court said in a statement.
“However, based on the totality of the evidence presented in the case, the court returned a guilty verdict,” it added.
Astra reported Shchekotov’s arrest in August 2025. Citing a graduate from the same school at the time, the outlet said the victim was a 16-year-old cadet invited to Shchekotov’s dacha on July 29, where the two “[engaged] in sexual relations.”
The court found Shchekotov guilty based on Clause “a” of Part 3 of the Russian Criminal Code’s Article 132 – which essentially means the rape of a minor, a crime that carries a minimum prison term of 8 years and maximum of 15 years if convicted.
As opposed to popular belief, homosexuality itself is not a criminal offense in Russia.
However, the Kremlin has increasingly repressed gay rights – enforcing a “gay propaganda” ban that forbids public expression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) relationships and, in 2023, the Russian Supreme Court labeled the so‑called “international LGBT movement” as an extremist organization, exposing activists and supporters to fines and possible criminal charges.