The court was told that the citizen of Vsevolozhsk, 24 kilometers east of St. Petersburg, seized the dog by the neck and stabbed it six times.
"The defendant told the court that his partner returned home and said she had been attacked by a dog. Soon afterwards he went out onto the street, a dog started to bark at him, so he kicked the dog, which continued to bark and jump at him, after which he stabbed it with a knife," the regional prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The defendant was charged with animal cruelty "with the use of sadistic methods resulting in death."
Animal cruelty cases rarely come to trial in Russia. However, last week a court in St. Petersburg imposed a 3,000-ruble ($123) fine on a pensioner who strangled a puppy using wire in the presence of three children.
