Belarusian drug addict arrested in Russia. To avoid prison, he had to donate to the war

The Leninsky District Court of St. Petersburg issued a verdict for Belarusian citizen Aleh Pyatrashka, who was detained with drugs right on the street. He avoided real punishment — among the circumstances that the court took into account in his favor were donations to the "Russian Army Aid Fund" and a letter of gratitude from this organization.

Pyatrashka was detained on April 15, 2025, near a house on a street in St. Petersburg — he was leaning against a building when police officers approached him and asked for his documents. The man was taken to the station, where he himself pulled a package with a substance from his right jeans pocket and explained that it was "hashish," which he had purchased for his own use.

An expert examination showed that it was not hashish, but a mixture with the synthetic drug MDMB(N)-2201 — a derivative of methyl ether, which is included in the Russian list of prohibited substances. The mass of the substance — 0.86 grams — is classified as a large amount under Russian law, which corresponds to Part 2 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code of Russia (illegal storage of drugs without intent to sell).

During interrogation, Pyatrashka said that he first tried drugs in 2024 due to "difficult life circumstances" and ordered them through a Telegram channel with hidden stashes. On the day of his detention, he bought a gram of "hashish."

After picking up the stash near one of the houses, he immediately consumed part of the substance, and put the rest in his pocket — and felt unwell, realizing that he had bought something completely different from what he expected.

Pyatrashka fully admitted his guilt, and this, as well as a number of other circumstances, became the basis for an unusually lenient sentence. Among the mitigating factors listed by the court: the young age of the defendant, a chronic heart condition, an intention to marry a Russian citizen, positive characteristics from friends and neighbors in Belarus, certificates for sports achievements — and donations to charitable foundations. Alongside the "Humanitarian Action" fund, which helps drug users and engages in HIV and hepatitis prevention, and the "Alyosha" fund, the court separately mentioned a letter of gratitude from the "Russian Army Aid Fund."

The court recognized the combination of these circumstances as exceptional and imposed a sentence below the minimum threshold established by the article's sanction (usually from three to ten years of imprisonment). As a result, Pyatrashka was sentenced to just seven months of imprisonment — a term he had already fully served in the pre-trial detention center.

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