Nikita Zhuravel, 20, was detained in May 2023 under a law against offending religious believers’ feelings after he burned a copy of the Quran outside a mosque in Volgograd, 800km from Grozny.

Russian investigators transferred his case to Chechnya.

The investigative committee, which handles serious crimes, said this was because they received many messages from Chechnya residents asking to be designated injured parties.

Chechnya has an overwhelmingly Muslim population and its pro-Kremlin leader Ramzan Kadyrov has portrayed himself as Russia’s foremost defender of the Islamic faith.

TASS reported that Zhuravel pleaded guilty to the charges, repeatedly apologised in court, and said he had not thought about the consequences of his actions.

The investigative committee has said that he was paid to burn the Quran by Ukrainian intelligence.

Russia introduced its law against offending the feelings of religious believers in 2013 as part of the Kremlin’s turn towards conservative social values.