«The Anti-war Case»

Part 2, Article 318 of the Criminal Code: Dangerous violence

Using violence that threatens the life or health of a representative of the state or their family in connection with the performance of their duties. Possible punishment–up to ten years in prison.

Makhachkala

Adam Gadzhiev, 23

According to the investigation, he used violence against a representative of the state during the anti-mobilization protest on September 26th, 2022. Further details are unknown. He was arrested. According to his lawyers, Gadzhiev had signs of injuries after the detention. On February 10, 2023, Gadzhiev was sentenced to a year and a half in a general regime penal colony.

Mukhammad Magomedov, 18

According to the investigation, he used violence against a representative of the state durin the anti-mobilization protest on September 26th, 2022. Further details are unknown. According to his lawyers, Magomedov had signs of injuries after the detention. He was placed in pre-trial detention. On December 28, 2022, he was given a year and a half suspended sentence.

Mukhamed-Afandi Asipov, 21.

He participated in a protest against mobilization. Details are unknown. He was in pre-trial detention. He is presumably the same Muhamed-Afandi Asipov who is the former world champion in mixed martial arts. On March 16, 2023, Asipov was sentenced to two years of imprisonment.

According to unconfirmed reports, after the anti-mobilization protests in Makhachkala on September 25th and 26th, 2022, 8 criminal cases were opened for using violence against police.

Ulan-Ude

Natalya Filonova, activist, 61.

According to investigators, she used violence against two police officers on September 26th, 2022. On that day, both Filonova and сivil activist Nadezhda Nizovkina, who had been detained on September 24th during a public protest against mobilization, were taken to the Sovetsky District Court for a hearing on administrative cases concerning the repeated violations of protest participation regulations (Part 8, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Unexpectedly, the court building was evacuated. Both women were picked up by different cars. According to investigators, Filonova slapped one police officer on the face and poked another using a pen. The following actions were classified by investigators as non life-threatening violence (Part 1, Article 318 of the Criminal Code). However, the use of a pen as a poking device was classified as dangerous (Part 2, Article 318 of the Criminal Code) because the pen was allegedly used in an area close to the officer’s eye. According to the activist’s friend, Filonova was subjected to force during her detention and was threatened with reprisals in the police car. As a result, Filonova was placed under house arrest. On November 15th, it became known that another episode appeared in the case: Filonova is suspected of having broken a police officer’s finger. She was detained and has gone on a hunger strike. On November 17th, she was placed in a pre-trial detention — this happened after her adopted son went missing and she went looking for him with the electronic bracelet on her leg. Nadezhda Nizovkina was interrogated as a witness in the case, which prevented her from providing legal representation to Filonova. In December, child protection authorities placed her adopted son in the hospital. In March 2023 it became known that the prosecution returned the case to the investigator, while Filonova’s adopted son was placed into an orphanage. The case is already in the court. In May it emerged that a case had been brought against Nizovkina for her refusal to testify in the Filonova case (see below). On August 31, Filonova was sentenced to two years and 10 months in a general regime penal colony.

After the anti-mobilization protests on September 21st, 2022, a criminal case was opened against a person detained in Ekaterinburg under Article 318 (unknown which part). Later it became clear that she had been written up for an administrative violation.

 

Hooliganism (Article 213 of the Criminal Code)

Hooliganism is a gross violation of public order which expresses an overt disrespect for society. If committed alone and without a weapon, possible punishment is up to five years in prison. If committed with a weapon, in a group or when a representative of the authorities is resisted, the possible punishment is up to seven years in prison.

Moscow

Alexey Nechushkin

According to investigators, on February 27th, 2022, he deliberately drove a car onto the sidewalk on Pushkin Square, damaging the metal fence and then set fire to the car interior. A video of the incident appeared on social media, in which messages such as «people, stand up!» and «this is a war» were visible on the car. He was detained and taken to a pre-trial detention center on March 1st. On February 28, 2023, he was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.

Danila Tkachenko, artist, 33, and Grigory Mumrikov, musician, 41.

According to Tkachenko, a charge of hooliganism (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code), was brought against him due to a protest action he had planned on May 9th, 2022, but failed to complete. Tkachenko intended to remotely activate blue and yellow smoke bombs installed into air conditioners on the walls of buildings close to the Kremlin. People who know Tkachenko have been searched and threatened with charges in the case. Mumrikov who was not connected to the planned action has been detained and indicted. He was detained at night on May 11th and charged with petty hooliganism (Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences.) According to investigators, he swore in a public space. The following day, he was arrested for 10 days. Later, he was interrogated in connection to a criminal case, was detained and is facing charges. Tkachenko claims that no one knew about his intended protest action. He is currently outside of Russia. On August 8th, Mumrikov was transferred to house arrest. On April 4, 2023, he was sentenced to one and a half years of compulsory labour after the charge was reclassified as aiding and abetting attempted hooliganism (Part 1, Article 213, with the application of Part 3, Article 30 and Part 5, Article 33 of the Criminal Code). Mumrikov was released on parole on September 11, 2023.

Tkachenko is represented by an OVD-Info attorney.

Konstantin Kochanov, electrician, 25.

The reason for the prosecution was red crosses painted on the asphalt on the night of the 9th of May, 2023. According to the investigation, Kochanov drew two crosses near the houses on Bolshoi Kozlovsky Lane and one cross on Nizhnyaya Krasnoselskaya Street in the centre of Moscow. Photos of these drawings appeared in a Ukrainian Telegram channel — the post claimed that the crosses could allegedly have been drawn as markers for attacks on the city before the holiday. A rebuttal later appeared in a pro-government Telegram channel, «War on Fakes». The authors of the post claimed that such drawings were markings of geodetic points. At first, the police refused to initiate a case. The investigators believe that Kochanov expressed «disagreement with Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine» and «produced public actions which pose a real threat to the security of the state» and harm to the life and health of citizens. Kochanov was taken into custody.

St. Petersburg

Igor Maltsev (also known as Egor Skorokhodov), 23, and Sofia Semenova, 22

According to investigators, a performance was held on March 6th, 2022, during which an effigy wearing camo with a bag on its head and the inscription «RETRIEVE THEM» was burned. The court banned Semenova from certain actions as a precautionary measure. Maltsev is being held in a pre-trial detention center. At the end of March it became known that Semenova had left Russia. On May 5th, the decision concerning her precautionary measure was repealed and sent for revision. On June 23rd, she was placed on a wanted list. On September 26th, 2022, Maltsev was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison.

Vladimir Mironov, a graduate student at Saint Petersburg Academic University, 25.

According to the investigators, he smashed windows at the military recruiting office in the Vyborg district and wrote «No War!», «Stop the killing!» and «How many more can you kill?» on the walls. A case has also been initiated against him for discrediting the Russian army (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). Mironov had previously been fined for an administrative offence under article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which concerns discrediting the Russian army. The incident occurred on October 31, 2022, according to a united press service for the courts of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region as communicated to OVD-Info. The graduate student has been taken into custody.

Kansk (Krasnoyarsk region)

Vitaly Barinov, school teacher and former juvenile inspector. According to the investigators, on October 15th, 2022, he discharged a weapon into a promotional banner recruiting for military service which was hanging on Moscow St. in the city of Kansk (Krasnoyarsk region). The next day he was placed under arrest and remanded into custody by court ruling. In the ruling, the court said that the Barinov was «accused of committing a crime out of political convictions, having to do with the military action between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.» Barinov told his lawyer, Vladimir Vasin, that he was tortured after being arrested: his arms were twisted and he was electrocuted. He attempted to document signs of the beatings, but in the medical certificate dated October 17th the doctor at Kansk state hospital attributed the injuries to a fall on the street. Barinov was also charged with threatening to murder (Article 119 of the Criminal Code) a neighbour, whom he spoke to after shooting the banner. According to his lawyer, they also want to force him to confess to setting fire to the military enlistment office in Kansk on September 24th. Barinov was later taken to the Krasnoyarsk pre-trial detention facility, where he was beaten and threatened with rape. His lawyer was not allowed to see him several times. The investigation was carried in Krasnoyarsk, but later the case was sent to the Kansk city court. On April 21, 2023, the teacher was sentenced to two years and ten days in a general regime penal colony.

Volgograd

Denis Serdyuk, 31.

For more details see the section on Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code.

Kamyshin (Volgograd region)

Pavel Magalyas, programmer, 37.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Аrticle 167 of the Criminal Code.

Novonikolayevsky work settlement (Volgograd Oblast)

Vitaly Chebukov and Ilya Veryasov, 23.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code.

A case was also opened under the article on hooliganism in connection to the attempted arson of a military enlistment office in Simferopol.

A case under this article was also brought against Yekaterinburg resident Alexander Neustroyev, who on April 21, 2023, shouted rudely at a boy wearing a hat with the letter Z on it. In the video recording of the incident, he explains his behaviour by saying that the boy was wearing the hat in hot weather. The child’s mother filed a police report. On April 24, the man was detained and the Mash telegram channel published a video of his apology. Initially, a report was drawn up against him under the article on petty hooliganism (Part 1, Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code), but then the administrative case was dropped in connection with the initiation of criminal proceedings. He was given a preventive measure «not involving isolation from society». On August 9, the court dismissed the case and ordered Neustroev to pay a fine of 7,000 rubles. However, on August 10, after Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein complained about the court’s decision, the Prosecutor General’s Office demanded that it be reviewed.

A case under this article was also brought against Artem Lebedev in Nizhny Novgorod: he was suspected of setting fire to the dental office in a military recruitment station in Kanavinsky region on September 21st, 2022. He denied guilt. His mother told OVD-Info that during the search, the police seized the «lighter fluid used to cook shish kebabs that sits in the entryway and is used by all of the neighbors.» On September 26th, Lebedev was released on recognizance. According to his mother, the investigators did not have enough proof of his guilt. It later emerged that the case against Lebedev had been dropped for lack of evidence. The young man sued the state and received 100,000 rubles in compensation.

A plan to set fire to a military recruiting office in protest against the war and graffiti were mentioned in official reports in connection with the detention in Krasnoyarsk of Ilya Vinogradov and Daniil Ivanov, two anti-fascists accused of robbery, but these episodes were later not mentioned in their case.

There have been about 100 cases of arson, or attempted arson, concerning military registration and enlistment offices since the beginning of the war, and some of the cases that led to the initiation of criminal proceedings are listed below. We cannot say with certainty that all of these cases are related to anti-war protests, but we believe that the wave of arsons was a response to the military actions of the Russian state. The number of arson cases sharply increased after Putin announced the «partial mobilization» on September 21st, 2022.

A case concerning hooliganism on the grounds of political and ideological hatred (Paragraph «B», Part 1, Article 213 of the Criminal Code) was brought forward concerning an exhibition of art by political prisoners at the Moscow office of «Otkrytoe Prostranstvo.» Investigators determined that some of the exhibits «discredited the government of the Russian Federation, especially its actions related to conducting the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine by distorting the actual circumstances of its implementation» along with anti-war slogans. On June 14th, 2022, the police, invited by activists of the pro-Kremlin SERB movement, came to the exhibition. The exhibition was closed and volunteer Daria Soboleva and lawyer Irina Putilova were detained. They were released on the same day. At first, it was reported that a case concerning vandalism was launched (see below) and Soboleva was subject to a search in connection to this case. At night on June 17th, there was a search at Putilova’s house in connection to a case on hooliganism. During the search, nothing was confiscated. However, she was interrogated in her apartment as a witness.

 

Vandalism (Article 214 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 214

Vandalism is the desecration of buildings or other structures, including damage to property on public transport or in other public places. Possible punishment: up to one year of correctional labor or up to three months’ imprisonment.

Kolpashevo (Tomsk Region)

Natalya Indukaeva, 62.

According to investigators, she wrote a message about the war with Ukraine on the wall of a local recreation center «Rybnik». On September 30th, 2022, her case was closed as a result of her «sincere remorse.» She fully confessed and paid damages.

St. Petersburg

Marina Sergeeva, 25

On July 16th, 2022, in St. Petersburg, police detained Sergeeva together with her friend for holding a sign reading «Peace to Ukraine» in front of Electrosila metro station. The girls were kept at Police Station 29 for 15 hours and charges were drawn up for discrediting the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and disorderly conduct (Part 1, Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). However, on July 25th, Sergeeva’s lawyer said that a criminal case concerning vandalism was opened against her (Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code) and that there is a possibility that the charge may be reclassified to a more serious part of the article (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code). Sergeeva has left Russia. On January 31, 2023, it became known that she had been put on the wanted list. Law enforcement officials repeatedly texted her on social media, calling her back to Russia and promising that she would only receive a fine. Then they began to visit her relatives and her lawyer.

Dmitry Khodin, engineer

According to the investigation, he wrote «No to war!» and «Putin is a fascist» on a memorial at a mass grave site of Soviet Army soldiers who died in the defense of Leningrad between 1941 and 1943, and on a monument to the historic route «Peterhof to Narva.» He was taken into custody. At first he was accused of desecrating a burial ground (Paragraph «B», Part 2 of Article 244 of the Criminal Code), though his defense was able to show that there were no people buried in the location where he graffitied. On December 28, 2022, he was sentenced to pay a 40,000 ruble fine.

Moscow

Nikita Kamensky, 31

According to investigators, Kamensky wrote antiwar messages with a marker near Timiryazevskaya metro station. He is charged with discrediting the Russian armed forces (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Criminal Code) and with petty hooliganism (Part 1, Article 20.1 of the Criminal Code). He was detained on July 8th, 2022, and his apartment was searched on July 12th. Kamensky has left Russia and was placed on the wanted list. On February 28, 2023, Kamensky was detained at Yerevan airport. A month and a half later, he managed to leave Armenia.

Alexander Nizamov, 20.

The case was launched in connection to an antiwar protest that occurred on August 24th, 2022 — exactly half a year after the invasion began. To commemorate this occasion, activists colored the water in the Music of Glory fountain blood red. The decision to launch criminal proceedings states that unknown persons approached the fountain and «cynically neglecting moral norms and the rule of conduct in public spaces, knowing the illegality of their actions and aspiring to oppose society, poured an unknown red liquid from a plastic bottle into the fountain, defiling and desecrating its appearance. After that, the unknown persons fled the crime scene.» Nizamov was detained but later released after signing an agreement not to leave the city. Initially, he was accused of vandalism committed by a group of people or motivated by political hatred (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code), but this was then reclassified to vandalism without aggravating circumstances (Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code). Nizamov has left Russia, he is on the wanted list.

The husband of Anna Vyalkina, another alleged participant in the protest, was detained and forced to call her to identify her location. He was held overnight at the Kuzminki police station and then released. Vyalkina has left Russia.

Nizamov is being defended by OVD-Info attorney Elena Sheremeteva.

Kostroma

Alexey Marakulin, 51.

According to investigators, he broke a Z-shaped installation. He confessed his guilt and gave compensation for damages caused. He was given a fine of 40,000 rubles.

Tambov

Unknown man, 20 years old.

According to investigators, he cut with the last two words of the following inscription on a banner with a knife: «Za [translation: „for“] a world without Nazism. Za Russia! Za the president!»

Ulan Ude

Two unknown persons, 17.

According to investigators, they lit a letter «V» banner on fire which was hung up on a statute of Lenin. They were both detained. The FSB’s press service said that the suspects «expressed remorse and admitted their guilt.» One of the teens is a student at the city’s college.

Arkhangelsk

Roman Zotov

According to investigators, on February 27th, 2022, he graffitied «No War» on the facades of several apartment buildings. Zotov repaired the damage, confessed his guilt, actively cooperated with the investigation, and reconciled with the victims–representatives of the management company. In connection with this, on September 22nd, 2022, the court decided to close the case.

Karpogory village (Arkhangelsk region)

Andrey Kuznetsov

According to the investigation, he spray painted graffiti on several buildings, including a local leisure centre, a library, an employment centre, a store and a memorial plaque to Mikhail Teplov, a Great Patriotic War veteran, «to convey to the authorities his subjective opinion about the special military operation by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, expressed through his negative feelings towards the death of Russian and Ukrainian military personnel and civilians.» Some of the graffiti had the shape of two intersecting letter Zs. The case was opened under Articles on vandalism and on damage to Great Patriotic War memorials (Paragraph «b, ” Part 2, Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code). Kuznetsov pleaded guilty, and the case was considered using a shortened procedure. On June 22, 2022, the court sentenced him to 360 hours of community service.

Vladivostok

Olga Bratash, individual entrepreneur in the field of agricultural production, 40.

According to investigators, she threw red paint on a monument dedicated to the spy Richard Sorge. During a search in connection to her case, green ribbons, a symbol of the anti-war protest, were found in the woman’s possession. Bratash was taken to a pre-trial detention center and her two underage children were sent to a rehabilitation center. Later, their father picked up the children. On July 11th, 2022, the woman was transferred to house arrest. The case was first brought under the article on vandalism, then the woman was charged with destroying or damaging graves or monuments related to the Great Patriotic War (Paragraph «B», Part 2, Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code), but in January 2023 she was again charged with vandalism. On April 7, 2023, Bratash was sentenced to a fine of 5,000 rubles. On June 20, the Court of Appeal changed the qualification of the offence and toughened the punishment, the details are unknown.

Cheboksary

Unknown, 56.

According to the investigation, on January 9, 2023, he destroyed a metal structure in the shape of the letter Z in the «Pobeda» memorial complex (the memorial complex is dedicated to the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945), striking it with kicks and punches. Then, on January 14, he fired metal balls from a slingshot at the door of the State Archives, which had a sticker in the shape of the letter Z. The Cheboksary citizen had home searched, and law enforcement officers found metal balls for the slingshot and footwear with a pattern on the sole that matched the traces left in the snow at the park. He was sentenced to eight months of corrective labor.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Feodosia

Minor, 15.

According to the investigation, she painted «symbols of one of the extremist movements» on a thermal junction building, a wall of an abandoned building, and a gazebo. The particular kind of an extremist movement is unspecified. According to a published statement, the girl acted on the instructions of a «coordinator» and received monetary rewards, including for her other actions in support of Ukraine, such as transmission of data on the movement of Russian military equipment. She was released on personal recognizance. Earlier, a pro-Russian activist Alexander Talipov, who was engaged in writing denunciations of supporters of Ukraine in Crimea, reported the detention of a 15-year-old refugee from the Kharkiv region allegedly scattering yellow balloons with blue pro-Ukrainian inscriptions around the city and pasting anti-war leaflets.

Simferopol

Bogdan Ziza, Evpatoria resident, artist, 29.

For more details, see the section concerning Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

 

Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code: Vandalism by a group of persons or on grounds of hatred

Vandalism committed by a group of persons, on grounds of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity or on grounds of hatred or enmity towards any social group. Possible punishment: up to three years' imprisonment.

Belgorod

Vasily Devyatov, an employee of a lift maintenance company.

On February 25th, 2022, two Belgorod residents detained another Belgorod resident when they saw him spray paint antiwar graffiti on a public transit stop called Vodstroi. According to Fonar.TV, in one of the inscriptions he accused Russia of fascism. The young man was thrown to the ground and held until the police arrived. The next day, it became known about the opening of case concerning vandalism committed on the grounds of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity or on the grounds of hatred or enmity against any social group. After questioning, Devyatov was released under a pledge to appear in court. He later told Helpdesk that he had been beaten following his detention. On October 27th, 2022, he was sentenced to two years’ restriction of freedom.

Ilya Ch., resident of Kaliningrad, 28.

According to the investigation, on the night of September 18, 2023, he set fire to a structure shaped as a glowing letter Z that had been installed on the city street. Ministry of Internal Affairs officers stated that during a search, objects resembling a grenade and a TNT block were found in his possession. He was also charged with illegal possession of explosive materials (Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). The Kaliningrad resident claimed that he was subjected to torture: he was handcuffed, had a bag placed over his head, was beaten in the face and other parts of the body, and was asked if he had a «handler.» Then, for 4-5 hours, he had been tortured with an electric shocker and a gas burner, as well as threatened with serious injuries. This way he was coerced into confessing that he did not want to live in Russia and held negative views on the policies and ideology of the Russian state; this confession was recorded on video. The young man has been taken into custody.

Novomoskovsk (Tula Region)

Nikolay (surname unknown), 28.

According to investigators, he wrote antiwar slogans on the walls of a building entrance. He was detained.

Tula

Dmitry Kozyrev, 28.

According to investigators, he wrote «War: A Requiem for Common Sense» on the Spasskaya Tower of the Tula Kremlin. He admitted his guilt. The Telegram channel «Tula.Extremism» reports that Kozyrev was placed under house arrest. On September 28, 2022, he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

Faik Handzhigazov and Anton Zavadsky, 28, paramedics.

Zavadsky is an anarchist and anti-fascist who participated in the ‘Food instead of bombs’ event in Bryansk in 2008. According to investigators, they wrote ‘Overthrow Putin! Stop the war! ’ in the entrances of four apartment buildings. At first it was reported that they were taken to a pre-trial detention center. However, information has appeared that they are under house arrest. Later, according to the information on the court website, in August 2022 the court chose prohibition of certain activities as a measure of restriction against them. No later than October the article for calls for extremist activities (Part 1, Article 280 of the Criminal Code) had been added to the charges. On March 29, 2023, both were sentenced to two years' imprisonment and fined 180,000 rubles.

St. Petersburg

Nikolai Vorotnev, basketball player, 22, and an unknown person. According to investigators, they painted the shield covers of two howitzers in the Military Historical Museum of Artillery yellow and blue. Vorotnev was detained on March 19, 2022, and confessed. The court ruled to put him a pre-trial detention center. Аccording to unconfirmed information, he was later released with an unknown precautionary measure. The identity of the second suspect was not established. On October 6th, 2022, Vorotnev was sentenced to a year of restriction of freedom.

Nikita Chirkov

Detained, charged with vandalism on the grounds of political hatred for an antiwar message «in a Z-shape crossed out horizontally in the center, with the ‘=’ symbol and an image of a cross with its ends bent at right angles» on the pedestal of the monument to Chernyshevsky. He has beem held in a pre-trial detention center. Sentenced to a year of restricted liberty.

Egor Kazanets, a Ukrainian citizen, 23.

According to investigators, he wrote «Glory to Ukraine!» with gold paint on a building wall. He was held in a pre-trial detention center. On November 17th, 2022, he was sentenced to a 30,000 ruble fine — a lower amount than the minimum required under Part 2 of Criminal Code Article 214. The court also credited the time that Kazanets had spent in pre-trial detention, thereby freeing him from having to pay the fine. On January 25, 2023, the appeals court granted the prosecutor’s request, overturning the judgment and returning the case for a retrial. The prosecution believed the sentence was too harsh. On March 30, a new verdict was passed, the details of which are unknown.

Sergey Vasilyev

According to investigators, on May 2nd, 2022, he wrote a message saying «Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes» on a children’s slide using spray paint. The investigation found in this act a motive of ideological, political and national hatred toward the military. He was held in pre-trial detention. On December 1, 2022, he was sentenced to a year’s restriction of freedom.

Moscow

L.L., street artist.

According to investigators, he wrote an antiwar message on a fence. He is currently being defended by lawyer Daniil Berman from Apologia Protesta.

Sergey Zvyagin, 43, and Alexey Vedeneev

According to investigators, they wrote a message on on the electrical box on the side of a building that discredited the Russian armed forces and the president. They both were under house arrest. On June 29, 2022, they were both convicted to 8 months restrictions on freedom. The case was heard in a shortened procedure after the accused admitted their guilt. One of them compensated the owner of the building for the damages.

Oleg Tolmachev

According to investigators, he stenciled «Putin is a ki**er» on a wall. He pleaded guilty. On August 17, he was sentenced to one year’s restriction of freedom.

Daria Fadeeva (25), Artur Sarkisov and Sergey Yazikov (29).

According to the investigation, the trio made inscriptions on the central heat supply station building, including «Za fascism :)» («To fascism»), «Russian writer. Crushed. By Russian tanks in Prague. Z», and painted a peace sign next to a blast exploder, causing the building to acquire a «disfigured appearance that offends public morals». On December 12, 2022, all three were sentenced to pay fines, the amount is unknown.

Filipp Kozlov (Philippenzo), street artist, 38.

The reason for the prosecution was his work «Izrossilovanie» («rape» in Russian is iznasilovanie «изнасилование») under the Elektrozavodskiy Bridge on the Yauza embankment in Moscow. On September 1, 2023, Kozlov was searched. He was then summoned for questioning, to which he never showed up. On October 25, it emerged that Kozlov had been put on a wanted list. On July 29, the artist was detained at the airport when he was returning from Georgia, where he had been staying recently, and arrested for 15 days under the article on disobedience to law enforcement officers (part 1, art. 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation) — allegedly he refused to show his passport. On August 11, the artist was arrested for a second time for 15 days under the same article. In August 2022, Philippenzo was fined 45,000 rubles (US$450) under the article on discrediting the Russian army (part 1, art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation). The reason for the fine was his post on the social network «VKontakte '' with a drawing of a soldier and information about the war in Ukraine. It is not clear from the case materials what kind of information it is. In June of the same year, the artist was fined 40,000 rubles (US$410) twice because of the graffiti „Zinc is ours“: for drawing on the wall and for publishing the photo on social media.

Vladikavkaz

Unknown person, 37.

According to investigators, they spilled paint on a banner supporting the Russian armed forces.

Blagoveshchensk

Pavel Kambolin, 25.

Several cases were opened under Article 214 of the Criminal Code: according to investigators, over the course of several days, he used black paint to paint «images of prohibited symbols and inscriptions discrediting the actions of the Russian Armed Forces» on a movie theater, the Amur region museum of folk art, a fence, the underground parking garage of a shopping mall, and on a monument commemorating the day the Russian Federation’s declaration of sovereignty was adopted. Several administrative cases were also filed against him and he was arrested for 28 days and fined 300 thousand rubles. The Interior Ministry released a video in which a man with a blackened face says that he wrote the inscriptions and regrets the fact that he did so. The investigation has concluded and the court is processing the case. On August 16, 2022, he was sentenced to 10 months’ restriction of freedom.

Mozhaisk (Moscow region)

Andrey Kizevalter

According to investigators, he spilled yellow paint on a poster with the letter Z on it. It had hung on the building of the city’s house of culture. On April 9th, Kizevalter was detained. On April 11th, the court selected a precautionary measure in the form of a prohibition of certain actions. Later, the measure of restriction was replaced by a personal recognisance. On April 24, 2023, the court sent Kizevalter to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment.

Konstantin Martsenko, 35.

According to the investigation, Martsenko knocked down an installation in the form of the letter Z, a Russian pro-war symbol, after which he tried to set fire to a pro-war banner on the building of the cultural centre. After failing to do so, Martsenko tore the banner up. He was placed in custody. On 13 December 2022, Martsenko was sentenced to eight months of restrictions on freedom.

Cheboksary

Nikolay Mikhailov, 22, and Andrey Fedorov, 24.

According to investigators, they damaged a light-installation with a «Z» letter. Both have been fined 30 thousand rubles as per the article on «discrediting» the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). They were under an obligation to appear. Their criminal case, concerning vandalism committed by a group of people on grounds of hatred was considered according to a special order. On August 4th, 2022, their case was halted and both were ordered to pay court fines of 20 thousand rubles. However on October 3, the appeals court overruled this verdict and Mikhailov and Fedorov were each sentenced to 8 months restriction of freedom.

Tolyatti

Alexey Arbuzenko, worked as a speech therapist in a kindergarten, 46.

According to investigators, over the course of several weeks Arbuzenko spilt paint and wrote messages on three banners bearing images of Russian soldiers. The CHP Samara Telegram channel published a video where a man, stammering, tells that in June and July 2022, on Voroshilova, Dzerzhinskogo and Revolyutsionnaya streets, he «committed acts of vandalism» against «posters with images of Russian army personnel that accomplished feats on the territory of Ukraine, ” that he regrets his actions and asks forgiveness of those whose feelings were hurt. He is under arrest. At first, a case was opened for vandalism motivated by political hatred, but later charges were added for discrediting the use of the military leading to destruction of property (Part 2 Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) and for involving a minor in a crime committed by a group and motivated by political, ideological, racial, national, or religious hatred (Part 4, Article 150 of the Criminal Code). The report of the Investigative Committee regional department states that the case also involves a 15-year-old minor. On May 11, 2023, Arbuzenko was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony; the minor was given one year of restricted liberty.

Arbuzenko’s interests are being represented by OVD-Info lawyer Zakhar Lebedev.

Kemerovo

Anastasia Skryleva, 20.

According to investigators, a woman spilled paint on a series of banners displayed before Victory Day in order to express disagreement with the action of the Russian army in Ukraine. A case has been opened concerning vandalism on grounds of political hatred. The court is processing the case. In October 2022, she was sentenced to one year of restrictions on her freedom.

Vladimir

Anton Ganyushkin, street artist.

On the night of March 2nd, 2022, someone wrote a piece of graffiti that read «NO TO WAR» near Erofeevsky slope and Lybedskaya highway. On March 5th, several local activists and journalists were subject to searches. Later, Ganyushkin and artists Denis Savenko and Ivan Sinyukhin were detained. They were released and told that they were part of the case as witnesses. However, Ganyushkin was later indicted and on September 27th, 2022, was sentenced to 8 months of restrictions on his freedom.

Aleksin (Tula region)

Daniil Stepanov, 31.

According to investigators, he wrote anti-war slogans on the city administration, the pension fund and the military recruitment offices, and also set fire to two «patriotic» banners (at least one with the letter «Z»). Stepanov was taken into custody. It later emerged that he had also been charged with secret cooperation with a foreign organisation (Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code): the telegram channel «Tula. ExtremiZm» claimed that flags of Ukraine and the «Freedom of Russia» legion, as well as correspondence with some «members» of the legion were found at Stepanov’s home. On July 27, 2023, Stepanov was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

Chita

Alexander Snezhkov, 19, and Lyubov Lizunova, 16, anarchists.

They were detained on October 31, 2022, for graffiti saying «Death to the regime». Law enforcement officers then looked into the Telegram channels «75zlo» and «Shugan-25, » run by Snezhkov and Lizunova, primarily posts that expressed support for lighting fire to military enlistment offices. Snezhkov and Lizunova were also charged with calls to extremism (Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and the public glorification of terrorism (Part 2 Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). Searches were conducted in the anarchists' apartments; they signed an agreement not to leave the city. In January 2023, Lizunova was arrested in Irkutsk and Snezhkov in Omsk, supposedly for violating their agreement not to leave the city. After this Snezhkov was placed in a pre-trial detention centre in Omsk, while Lizunova was placed under house arrest.

Pushchino (Moscow region)

Vasily Koretsky, cartoonist, 46.

Managed the children’s animation studio at the Pushchino Church of Michael the Archangel. His cartoons on Orthodox themes received prizes at festivals. He told OVD-Info that his case was initiated because he spilled paint on a monument to veterans of local wars and military conflicts. He was prohibited from engaging in certain activities as his pre-trial restriction. On July 7, 2022, Koretsky was sentenced to a year and a half of restriction of freedom.

Vsevolozhsk (Leningrad region)

Alexander Kudryashov, engineer.

According to the investigators, he damaged a war memorial writing «Z» = [swastika] on the «Memorial Pillar» and the «Pedestal of the Anti-Aircraft Gun». Initially, the case was opened under Paragraph b, Part 2 of Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code for causing damage to a monument or structure memorializing those who died in the defense of the Fatherland or its interests. Kudryashov was taken into custody. However, the charge was later reclassified as vandalism motivated by political hatred because the paint used by Kudryashov washed off over time without damaging the memorial. The court changed his pre-trial restrictions to a prohibition on certain activities.

Astrakhan

Marsel Nabiullin, 32.

He was arrested on April 25, 2022, after a security guard at the «Vastorg» shopping center reported that a man wrote anti-war graffiti on a billboard near the building. The expert report found that he was drunk. He was written up for discrediting the armed forces (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and for petty hooliganism, associated with failure to obey a lawful demand of authorities (Part 2, Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). He was fined 30,000 rubles under the first charge and arrested for five days under the second. In addition, he wrote «no war» on two buildings, on a monument to the former president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and on a memorial stone at a square named after Aliyev. These became the basis for initiating criminal proceedings. On December 1, 2022, the Astrakhan resident was sentenced to two years restriction of freedom.

Andrey Berezin.

According to investigators, he drove a car into a fence near the building of the local FSB, and also kicked one of the traffic police inspectors who detained him. According to inspectors, Berezin said after his arrest that he wanted to knock down a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the secret police, in response to the deaths of children in Ukraine. Berezin stated in court that he was not planning to damage anything, and that the inspector instead used force against him. He has been in custody since March 25, 2022. On August 4, the court sentenced Berezin to two years in a colony-settlement.

Tomsk

Stanislav Shmakov, assistant to the deputy of the city duma David Avetyan (25), Kirill Dudarkov and Polina Plotnikova, 23.

According to investigators, they destroyed several banners reading «Everything for the front» and «Everything for Victory». Investigators consider Shmakov to be the leader of an organized group. Initially, several criminal cases were opened under Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code, but they were later merged and reclassified under Part 2. All three have been placed under house arrest. Shmakov was detained following a search, and for a long time his family did not know his location. He pleaded guilty. The case is already in court.

Kasimov (Ryazan region)

Sergey Skoreyev, eco-activist and musician, 38 and Sergey Erzhenkov, journalist and documentary filmmaker, 36.

According to the investigation, Skoreyev painted «Putin z***** (we’ve had enough of you) Leave!» on the Lenin monument, while Yerzhenkov shot a video. The investigation was launched in April 2022. Investigators said they vandalised the monument on the basis of political hatred and as a sign of «disagreement with the special military operation in Ukraine». Erzhenkov said that he was beaten when he was arrested. In August 2022, the court dismissed the case and imposed court fees of 15,000 roubles on both of them. The prosecutor’s office appealed this decision, but on October 5, the court dismissed the case again. The prosecution again appealed the decision and on May 3, 2023, Skoreyev and Erzhenkov were sentenced to eight months' restricted liberty. In August, there was information that there might be administrative oversight violations attributed to the case; because of this, they might be sent to a colony.

Yaroslavl

Vladimir Kalinin, 40.

According to the Federal Security Service (FSB), on September 25th, 2022, he set a poster with an image of the letter «Z» on fire. Kalinin told OVD-Info that he was arrested with the use of force. At first, he was under house arrest, later he was released under recognizance. He was previously convicted in cases of robbery, illegal fishing and the sale of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. On March 10, 2023, Kalinin was sentenced to a year and a half of suspended imprisonment.

Ekaterinburg

Yegor Ledyakin (Leonid Cherny), street artist, 44.

Detained on March 18th, 2022, allegedly for pasting stickers. When he was detained, stickers with the words «GruZ 200» (the Russian term for killed in action) and «P*Z**Ts» (a Russian curse word) were found on his person. There are three episodes in the case involving anti-war graffiti on the walls and an insult to Putin. According to the artist, the spray cans found in his possession during the detention were attached to the case as a piece of evidence, but their colours did not match those of the graffiti. Initially, a vandalism case was opened against Ledyakin (Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code), but later the charge was reclassified to hooliganism on the grounds of political hatred (Paragraph «B», Part 1, Article 213 of the Criminal Code). During the investigation, the artist was sent to the hospital for a psychiatric examination twice. Police investigators believed that he may have written anti-war slogans and pasted stickers due to some kind of mental disorder. The first examination did not reveal any disturbance in Ledyakin’s thinking. In the end, the charge was again reclassified as vandalism, but motivated by political hatred or enmity. The case is already in the court. In June 2022, the court fined the newspaper Vecherniye Vedomosti 150,000 rubles for mentioning Ledyakin’s anti-war stickers in an article about administrative violations for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). During the trial, the prosecutor requested that the anti-war graffiti be excluded from the charges, leaving only the graffiti insulting the president. On April 3, 2023, Ledyakin was sentenced to six months' imprisonment.

Kazan

Vladislav Vakhitov

According to the investigation, he painted 12 messages against the war and Putin on the walls of city buildings. He pleaded guilty and compensated the cost of re-painting. The executives of companies within the affected buildings that were deemed to be victims agreed to drop criminal charges without punishment, but the prosecutor insisted that «the usage of the surname of a sitting President and the anti-war nature of the inscribed messages during the period of the Special Military Operation point to the existence of an extreme threat to public safety and morals». On the 1st of March, 2023 Vakhitov was sentenced to 9 months of limitation of freedom.

Mark Serov, civil activist.

On April 6, 2023, his home was searched. Authorities said they initiated a case because Serov drew «anti war» graffiti and made «some negative statements» about Vladimir Putin. Following the search, Serov was taken to a police station. A report was made against him for organising an unsanctioned public event (part 2 of article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) — a makeshift memorial in memory of the civilians from Dnipro who died under rocket fire. The court remanded the activist in custody for eight days. Shortly before the search, Serov, along with other activists, registered a regional branch of the Civil Initiative political party in Kazan. A post, allegedly related to the security forces, appeared on a local Telegram channel with threats against them. In May, it became known that Serov had left Russia. He was put on the wanted list.

Shuya (Ivanovo Region)

Sergey Veselov, 53

According to investigators, he wrote the inscription «no to war» on a city administration building. In July 2022, criminal charges were also filed against Veselov for repeatedly discrediting the Russian armed forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). The case was based on a YouTube video on Veselov’s channel which has 16 subscribers. On June 6 that year, the Shuya city court fined Sergey Veselov 30,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). As a pre-trial restriction for the criminal case, Veselov was prohibited from engaging in certain activities, but later the appeals court canceled this decision. Another case for discrediting the use of the military was opened against Veselov in September for statements he made during the appeals court hearing for his first discrediting charge. All three criminal cases have been combined into one. In December, Veselov was charged with another count of discrediting the army, the reason for opening the case are two YouTube videos published in August and September. The first video was published on Veselov’s channel, the second one on a channel named Opposition 2.0, Veselov claims that he himself did not film and publish it, but it does feature his story of the search in his house. In an accompanying text to the second video mentions Veselov’s channel — in his opinion, this became the reason for opening the case. This case was merged with the case of vandalism and the first cases of discrediting the army. Besides, the charges of vandalism were reclassified from Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code to Part 2 of the said Article (vandalism motivated by political hatred). Veselov is under personal recognizance. The case is already in the court. On June 2, 2023, Veselov was detained and the next day he was arrested for eight days for informing his followers about a rally in support of Alexei Navalny scheduled for June 4. The court found the blogger guilty of organising an unauthorised rally (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences). At one of the hearings in the criminal case, the court excluded five psychological and linguistic examinations of Veselov’s statements.

Later, another case was brought against Veselov — for rehabilitation of Nazism (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code, see below) and discrediting the armed forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code).

Belovo (Kemerovo Region)

Sergey Khozyaykin

According to the investigation, Khozyaykin heard about the war against Ukraine between 22 and 28 of February 2022 and, as a pacifist, he expressed disagreement with the Russian authorities’ decision to start the war. For this reason, on April 15, 2022, he brought eggshells filled with red paint to the «Mayak» shopping centre and threw them at a banner with a portrait of Vladimir Putin. According to the court order, Khozyaykin applied the paint «intentionally chaotically» «in order to imitate blood stains as a symbol of bloodshed and violence». He was released on personal recognizance, pleaded guilty, and was tried in a special procedure. On January 12, 2023, Khozyaykin was sentenced to a half-year limitation of freedom.

Abakan

Igor Pokusin, leader of the social movement «HowLong?! (Dokole)», 61. The movement represents residents of Khakassia who have experienced police abuse.

According to investigators, he painted over a message on a banner that supported the Russian army. The banner was located at the intersection of Katanov and Pushkin streets. He additionally wrote an antiwar message on the facade of the Hakkas National Museum of Regional History, where previously a screen had been installed featuring letter Z. This letter is a symbol of support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Initially it was reported that Pokusin had been charged under Part 1 of the article, but it later emerged that he had been charged under Part 2, which implies vandalism motivated by political hatred. He admitted his guilt and signed an agreement not to leave the city. On July 24, 2022, Pokusin was arrested at the airport in Krasnoyarsk while he was on his way to Astana. His wife told «Current Time» that after his arrest Pokusin had a plastic bag put over his head and was threatened with electric shocks. He was then placed under house arrest. On December 7, Pokusin received a 6 month limitation of freedom. The next day he was arrested again and placed in pre-trial detention for a charge of attempted state treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code, with application of Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Novokuznetsk

Denis Batranin, SMM specialist from an advertising and holiday services agency, 25.

According to the official investigation, in May 2022 Batranin painted graffiti depicting the Ukrainian flag, symbols of the Ukrainian army’s «Freedom from Russia» Legion, and statements «discrediting the Russian president and the special military operation» on the walls of residential buildings and monuments. At other points in 2022, he was fined for anti-war graffiti on the local cinema under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Section 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). He was also fined for graffiti with a symbol that according to the court resembled Nazi symbols (on the basis of the prohibition to display Nazi symbols — Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). On May 24, 2022, Batranin was detained in order to «investigate his involvement in extremist activities». Security forces officers who participated in his detention claimed that Batranin was pushing them and «banging his head against the car door and windows». For that, he was given a 24-hour administrative detention. The criminal sentence was passed on May 10, 2023, details unknown.

Rybinsk (Yaroslavl Oblast)

Unknown. According to the investigation, on April 29, 2023, he made inscriptions on a model of an artillery installation that feormed part of an ensemble of monuments to the Great Patriotic War. The Pervy Yaroslavl TV channel published a video with a confession of a young man born in 2000, who says that he was against the «Special Military Operation» and made the inscriptions «No War!» and «Putin is a murderer» in connection with it. At the same time, the inscription «Putin is a murderer» appears in another video, where a 41-year-old man admits to making the same inscriptions. It follows from the report of the investigatory directorate of the Investigatory Committee for Yaroslavl region that on April 29 and June 4 the inscriptions were made by a 41-year-old man taken into custody against whom the case on participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Article 282.2 part 2 of the Criminal Code) was brought.

Unknown, 41. According to the investigation, on June 4, 2023 he made inscriptions on buildings and bus stops in support of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Navalny’s headquarters, previously banned as extremist organizations. A case was also filed against him for participating in the activities of an extremist organization (Article 282.2 part 2 of the Criminal Code) and he was taken into custody. The Pervy Yaroslavl TV channel published a video with a confession of the man who, stammering, claims that on June 4, after watching a video in support of Navalny, he made inscriptions, in his words, «like 'no to war' and 'freedom to political prisoners'». The video with his confession is accompanied by an image of the inscription «Putin is a murderer, » which was apparently mentioned by a young man born in 2000 in another video. It follows from the report of the Investigative Committee for Yaroslavl region that the inscriptions on April 29 and June 4 were made by the same person. In addition, the report mentions only the charge of participation in the activities of an extremist organization.

Mogocha (Zabaykalsky Krai)

Alexander Korus

According to the investigation, he scrawled messages on various infrastructure sites: a car bridge, railway fences, a branch of the Russian Railways, and a store. Among the graffiti were phrases such as «Putin is a fascist, ” „No to war! , ” „Vata ZOMBI“ [Stuffed ZOMBIES], „NO TO MOBILIZATION, ” as well as „1984.“ The court noted in its verdict that the man was drawing parallels between the events in Russia and the plot of George Orwell’s novel „1984, ” a story about a totalitarian regime in a fictional state where people live under constant surveillance. Korus admitted guilt. On May 17, 2023, Korus was sentenced to one year of a restriction of freedom. In addition, the court assessed the damage that Korus caused to the railroad at 341 rubles (app. $4) and the damage to the administration of the Mogochinskoe settlement at 5,510.21 rubles (app. $60).

Kolomna (Moscow Oblast)

Kirill Butylin, resident of Lukhovitsy, aircraft assembler at the local Voronin Aviation Plant, 22.

For more details, see the section concerning Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Konakovo (Tver region)

Alexander Martynov, Yandex Taxi driver, 64, and Ludmila Razumova, artist and photojournalist, 56.

For more details, see the section concerning Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Krasnodar

Igor Paskar, Volgograd resident, 46.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Ukhta (Komi)

Vladislav Kraval

For more details, see the section concerning Article 207 of the Criminal Code.

Tolyatti

Pavel Korshunov, a resident of Tolyatti and an employee of a sports and tourist equipment rental company, 35.

For more details, see section on Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Ivanovo

Stanislav Rumyantsev, 36.

For more details, see section on Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Feodosia

Dmitry Stepanchenko, 26.

According to investigators, he made several «offensive» inscriptions on various walls against the war in Ukraine. He was detained and was in pre-trial detention. On September 14, 2022, he was sentenced to one year and 21 days’ restriction of freedom. On December 20, his sentence was lowered by an appeals court to one year because giving a sentence in days is not allowed. In addition, the court considered the sentence served after taking into account the time he spent in detention.

Sevastopol

Unidentified woman, 62.

According to the investigation, «using a paintbrush and cans of paint» «she painted Ukrainian symbolism on the walls of houses, fences and benches» in the centre of Balaklava, which «caused significant public outcry and indignation of the inhabitants of the hero-city of Sevastopol». Law enforcement officers published a video with the woman’s «confession», she explained that she painted the flags «because she loves Ukraine and wanted to support it.»

Two unidentified persons.

For more details see the section on Article 329 of the Criminal Code.

Gleb Malkov, 21.

For more details, see the section on Article 329 of the Criminal Code.

Kerch

Egor Savchenko and Mikhail Zhitkov

According to investigators, both placed anti-war graffiti in the city. On May 25, 2023, security forces broke into the apartment where they were staying. At least one of them was dragged by the hair. The administrator of the telegram channel «Crimean SMERSH» Alexander Talipov, who regularly writes denunciations against opponents of the war, said in his personal channel that Savchenko and Zhitkov were then arrested for 15 days. In June, they were placed under house arrest, although the investigation demanded that they be taken under arrest. «Crimean SMERSH» also posted a video of their apology.

Bakhchisarai

Oleksandr Tyurenko, 35. In the evening of 25 August 2023, he urinated on a sculpture of Z and V symbols on an alley dedicated to the invasion of Ukraine. The next day he was detained and forced to record a video apologising and expressing support for the war. In the recording, you can hear the rustling of pages behind the scenes, at the end of the video Tyurenko reads the text of the Russian anthem. He explained his act by the fact that he was drunk.

 

 

Article 214 (Part unknown)

St. Petersburg

Unknown person, engineer for a telecommunications company, 43.

According to investigators, he painted over the Soviet Era obelisk in Polezhaevsky park. He has been taken into custody.

Ryazan

Unknown, 28.

According to investigators, on May 23rd, 2022, he wrote a message saying «Fuck you, Russian warship» on military exhibits at the Park of Naval Glory. He was detained and then released after signing an agreement to appear at investigative actions at first notice.

Kaliningrad

Mikhail Sukhoruchkin, a student at Kant Baltic Federal University.

According to investigators, he wrote the message «PUTIN = WAR» on the back wall of the «1200 Guardsmen» monument on April 9th, 2022. After Sukhoruchkin was detained, a video appeared online in which he apologized, said he supported Putin’s actions «in Ukraine against Nazism, » and pledged to join «patriotic organizations.» He later told Sever.Realii that he made this statement under pressure from unknown people who were in the investigator’s office and threatened him with physical violence. Sukhoruchkin had to sign an agreement not to leave the city, after which he left Russia. Later, it became known that he was granted political asylum in Poland.

 

There is information about another case launched in Kazan in connection to an incident that took place on the evening of August 2nd. On that day, an unknown cyclist painted over a Z symbol that was displayed on a memorial to a GAZ-51 car. In connection to this case, the police detained local resident Dmitry Isakov, who claims he did not commit the described action and that he can prove how on August 2nd he was at a sporting club. He links his detention whith the fact that he is also a cyclist. Isakov was released the following day. In July, security officers came to Isakov’s house because of his anti-war publications on Facebook.

In September 2022, a case of vandalism was opened in Simferopol after red spots appeared on a mural depicting a Russian soldier.

In October 2022, a case under the same criminal article was launched in Veliky Novgorod. According to investigators, on October 13th unidentified individuals drew the messages «no to moGilization» (from the Russian word «mogila, ” meaning „grave“) and „no to war“ on buildings along Zavokzalnaya, Cosmonauts and Lomonosov streets. By doing so, the suspects expressed „strong disrespect for society.“ In connection to that, on October 28th, two young men living together were searched at their home. Searches also took place in their vehicles and workplaces. The suspects then were questioned as witnesses.

 

Destruction of or damage to items of cultural heritage (Article 243 of the Criminal Code)

Destruction of or damage to items of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of Russia included in the state register of items of cultural heritage (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of Russia, identified as items of cultural heritage, the ecosystem, items protected by the state, or cultural property. Potential punishment depends on the part of the article and can be up to six years of imprisonment.

St. Petersburg

Olga Smirnova, an activist of Peaceful Resistance movement, 55.

A criminal case was initiated after she set fire to an art installation of the letter «Z» in public. Details are unknown.

Another criminal case against Smirnova was initiated under the article «Public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation» (Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, see below).

 

Defilement of burial sites (Paragraph «B», Part 2, Article 244 of the Criminal Code)

Desecration of the bodies of the deceased or the destruction, damage or defilement of burial sites, grave structures or cemetery buildings used for burial ceremonies or commemorations, and committed on the grounds of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity as well as on the grounds of hatred of or hostility to any social group is punishable with up to five years in prison.

St. Petersburg

Irina Tsybaneva, accountant, 60

According to investigators, on October 6th, 2022, she «left a note with offensive language» directed at the President near the graves of Putin’s parents in Serafimovsky cemetery. According to the case materials submitted to court, Mediazona reports, the message said: «To the parents of the maniac, please take him with you, he has caused so much pain and trouble that the whole world prays for his death [illegible]. Death to Putin, you raised a freak and a killer.» According to Tsybaneva, she left the letter after she «saw the news and understood that everything was very awful, everything was very sad, and that there were very many dead.» Tsybaneva was placed under house arrest. On November 7th, the court changed her pre-trial measures to a restriction on certain activities. On May 11, 2023, Tsybaneva was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Sudak

Valeriya Goldenberg, retiree, 61.

According to investigators, she spilled blood and feces on the grave of Valentin Isaychev, a mortar operator of the 810th Marine Brigade of the Russian Federation, who died in Berdyansk on the landing ship «Orsk.» Goldenberg has pleaded guilty saying that she did it «out of a feeling of revenge and out of compassion for the people of Ukraine.» She is sentenced to two years in a penal colony and is currently in custody.

 

Destruction of or damage to military graves and memorial structures (Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code

Destruction of or damage to military graves located in or outside the Russian Federation, monuments, gravestones, obelisks, and other memorial structures and objects built in memory of those who died defending the Motherland or its interests, or dedicated to the Russia’s military glory (including memorial museums or commemorative signs at locations of military actions), as well as monuments, other memorial structures and objects dedicated to individuals who defended the Motherland and its interests in order to damage the historical and cultural significance of these objects. Potential punishment is up to three years in prison.

Ukhta (Komi)

Two unknown persons.

A case was opened for damaging a memorial plaque dedicated to Arsen Pavlov (Motorola) who participated in the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. REN TV published a video on their website, where reportedly on the night of October 6th, 2022, an unidentified individual in a hood destroyed a memorial plaque near school No. 13 in Ukhta which Pavlov graduated from. In connection with this case, Vladimir Lyashko was detained. On October 23rd, law enforcement raided the apartment where Lyashko lived with his mother. Neither a search warrant nor the specific article of the Criminal Code that the case was opened under was presented to Lyashko. During the search, officers looked for a hammer or an ax, but eventually they seized tech devices — Lyashko’s laptop and smartphone, as well as his mother’s tablet and a smartphone. Lyashko’s sister claims that the man in the video is not her brother. Lyashko’s mother was taken in for questioning. On October 25th, Lyashko was released since no evidence of his involvement was found. He is currently not a person of interest in the case. Later, the Komi Republic Investigative Committee’s Investigative Division announced that they were looking for a «man under the age of 30» as a suspect in the crime, and that a «man around the age of 30» was involved.

Evidently, the same part of the article was used in a case where a memorial for fallen soldiers in the war with Ukraine located in Borzya (Zabaikal region) was desecrated. According to the prosecution the graves were damaged by unknown criminals.

 

Paragraph «B», Part 2, Article 243.4 of the Criminal Code: Destruction or damage to military graves or monuments related to the Great Patriotic War

Destruction or damage to military graves, as well as to monuments, monumental slabs, obelisks and other memorial structures or objects commemorating those who died defending the Fatherland or its interests during the Great Patriotic War. Or destruction or damage to objects dedicated to the days of military glory of Russia during that period (including memorial museums or memorial signs on the battlefields), as well as to monuments, other memorial structures or facilities dedicated to persons who defended the Fatherland or its interests during the Great Patriotic War. Punishment with up to five years' imprisonment.

Karpogory village (Arkhangelsk region)

Andrey Kuznetsov

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code.

Additionally, several cases under this article were initiated in connection with damage to monuments to Soviet soldiers in several European cities.

 

Destruction or damage to another’s property by arson (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code)

Intentional destruction or damage to another’s property out of hooliganism, if said acts caused significant damage and were committed by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous methods or if they caused death by negligence or other grave consequences. Punishable with up to five years' imprisonment.

Volgograd

Denis Serdyuk, 31.

According to investigators, on May 15th, 2022, he ignited «homemade incendiary devices» and threw them through the window into the premises of a military registration and enlistment office. A case was filed under articles on damage to or the destruction of property and hooliganism (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code). A neighbour, who was an identifying witness during the search, told V1.RU that when Serdyuk was questioned on the reasons for his action he answered «No war» and said that his goal was «to make it so that no one would want to go to participate in the special operation anymore.» He was taken to a pre-trial detention center.On February 27, 2023, he was sentenced to four years of penal colony and to a payment of 923 thousand rubles to the Ministry of the Defence.

Igra (Udmurtia)

Ilya Farber, artist, 48.

According to investigators, he set fire to a military registration and enlistment office (one of the rooms was burnt out as a result of a Molotov cocktail). He was arrested and taken into custody. A video appeared on Telegram channels, in which Farber states that he carried out these arsons because «he wanted to see what [he] was capable of.» On November 9th, 2022, he was sentenced to 3 years and 2 months in a maximum security prison and fined 2,660,000 rubles.

In 2012, Farber was sentenced to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of abuse of office and taking bribes. At the time, Farber was a rural teacher in Tver Oblast and the director of a local recreation center and was going to sue the general director of the company himself, who, according to Farber, did not conduct the repairs on time. Farber was sued by the general director of the company in turn. The sentence was later reduced to three years and Farber was released on parole in 2014.

Zelenodolsk (Tatarstan)

Andrei Bogdanov, 60.

According to investigators, on September 4th, 2022, he threw a bottle with liquid resembling a Molotov cocktail towards the Zelenodolsk military commissariat. Nothing caught on fire, so for that reason the case was opened under attempted harm to property (Criminal Code Article 267, part 2, using Article 30 part 3). On September 6th, Bogdanov was arrested. The aggravating circumstance leading to this form of pre-trial restrictions was a fine he had received for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) which Bogdanov received on March 14th, 2022. He received a fine of 15,000 rubles for a picket with a poster that, according to Bogdanov, read «our Fatherland is in danger.» He is currently in pre-trial detention and on November 30th, he reported that he has been denied medical attention. He has hypertension, but has been unable to get access to a blood pressure monitor. He also needs to have temporary titanium plates in his arm and leg removed, but has not been given access to a surgeon, leaving him unable to use his arm. On March 1, 2023, measure of restriction was changed to prohibition of certain actions. At that same time it became known that Bogdanov is also a suspect in a case of discrediting the Armed Forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the Zona Solidarnosti (Solidarity Zone) telegram channel, the reason for the prosecution was his participation in an anti-war rally and his Odnoklassniki posts, in one of which Bogdanov wished Putin to end up in Spandau prison for Nazi criminals and to be visited every night by the souls of those killed in Bucha. The cases were merged. On March 14, 2022, Bogdanov was fined for 15 thousand rubles twice on the basis of two administrative offence reports on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of the Administrative Offences) for single-person pickets with a sign «Citizens, our fatherland is in danger! Our tanks are in a foreign land! — Alexander Galich» and with a sign «No to ZZonderoperation, boys to their homes! to their mothers, not by cargo 200». The case is already in the court.

Kazan

Adela (surname unknown), student in 11th grade. At the time of the prosecution, she was a minor.

According to the investigation, on October 3rd, 2022, she threw two Molotov cocktails at the military recruitment office building in the Sovietsky region. A third was taken from him when he was arrested. He spent two days in a temporary detention center after which the court placed him under house arrest. According to the Telegram channel Baza, only the grass caught on fire. She explained his actions as a protest against the war in Ukraine and mobilization. The case was opened under attempted intentional destruction of property in a generally dangerous way (Criminal Code Article 167, part 2 using Article 30, part 3). On April 4, 2023, Adela was sentenced to two years' suspended sentence.

Almetyevsk (Tatarstan)

Bulat Kamaletdinov, student, 20.

He was detained on the premises of the local military recruitment office. Allegedly, he had «a device for refilling a 100 milliliter lighter» on him. According to the investigation, he climbed over the fence and «tried to set fire to a dead cable lying on the ground.» The media source «BUSINESS Online» claims that during the interrogation, the detainee admitted he was going to set the military recruitment office on fire to protest against mobilization. The case was initiated under the article on attempted intentional destruction of property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). It appears that Kamaletdinov is under arrest.

St. Petersburg

Viktor Melnikov, student

According to investigators, he made a combustible mixture at home, because he allegedly wanted to burn the draft card files of the military recruitment office in the town of Lomonosov, but he mixed up the address. The building that caught fire on September 21st, 2022, which had a sign reading «military recruitment office» was empty, and the military commissariat was actually located next door. He was taken into custody. Melnikov pleaded guilty and the case was heard in a special procedure. On June 6, 2023, he was sentenced to one and a half years in a penal colony and compulsory outpatient supervision and treatment by a psychiatrist in the place where he would serve his sentence.

Earlier, it was reported that the student was named Egor Pavlov. However, Pavlov apparently is part of a different case. According to unconfirmed reports, he sought help on the internet about how to set a military recruitment office on fire. The Telegram channel Mash na Moike published a video of the search which showed screenshots of the sent messages in which they discussed a plan to blockade and beat up OMON officers at a protest.

Alexey Baranov, a machine operator at a precast concrete plant, 38.

According to the investigation, on 19th of January, 2023, Alexey damaged the double glazing in the window of a building belonging to a private security organisation, and poured flammable liquid through the resulting opening, however he did not manage to «carry out the criminal intent through to the end»; on the 20th of February, he allegedly set two service vehicles of the Main Directorate for Traffic Safety and planned to set fire to cars belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Because of the attempted arson of the warehouse and the arson of two vehicles, Baranov was charged with intentional damage to property (Article 2.167 of the Code of Administrative Offences), due to the attempted arson of police vehicles, the same article with an addition of Article 3.30 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The Telegram channel «VCHK-OGPU» (Cheka-Joint State Political Directorate) that is allegedly linked to the Russian special forces communicated that during the investigation, Baranov asserted that the arson was guided by his anti-war position. Baranov was taken into custody.

Egor Balazeikin, secondary school student, 16.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Chernyakhovsk (Kaliningrad region)

Sergei Chursin, registered at a psychiatric care clinic, 30.

According to investigators, on the night of September 25th, 2022, he threw a bottle containing combustible materials at the wall of a military recruitment office which caused a wreath on a memorial plaque to French pilots and Soviet aircraft mechanics of the Normandie-Niemen regiment to catch fire. He was detained on September 26th and charged with attempted intentional destruction of property by arson (Criminal Code Article 167, part 2 using Article 30, part 3). Later the court placed him under arrest: the investigator believed that the case «has societal importance» and that the accused might interfere with witnesses or the investigation. On April 11, 2023, Chursin was sentenced to two years of compulsory labour.

Gai (Orenburg region)

Vladimir Gordeev, 33.

According to investigators, he tried to set a military recruitment office on fire. The local paper «VGae.ru» published a video in which he apologized to the military commissariat. On the video he said that he wanted to protest the mobilization, but not to harm anyone. The court placed him under house arrest. During the trial Gordeev claimed that he said the words on the recording under the pressure of the policemen. According to him, police officers made him read text written down on a paper in advance. He added that he is not against the war, but simply wanted to test responsiveness of local operative forces. Gordeev’s mother told the court that he was anxious since many of his relatives and friends are subject to conscription. On February 1st he was sentenced to four months of imprisonment, he was placed in custody in the courtroom. Apparently he was released in mid-March at the latest.

Krasnodar

Goncharenko (first name unknown).

According to investigators, on October 6th, he threw four Molotov cocktails at the door of the military recruitment office in the city of Goryachii Kliuch, and fled. The resulting fire was put out by employees of the recruitment office before the fire brigade arrived. He was arrested.

Gatchina (Leningrad region)

Mikhail Lazebny, resident of St. Petersburg, 33.

According to the investigation, on the night of September 25th, 2022, he threw a Molotov cocktail at the Syaskelevo village council building. According to Online47, he turned himself in to the police and made a full confession. The police told journalists that he had come to Syaskelevo from St. Petersburg and drank alcohol. After that, he went to a goodbye party for his childhood friends who were being mobilized. He felt sorry for them and decided to set fire to the local administration building where the mobilization call-up notices were being sent from. In October, Lazebny was placed under house arrest. The case was tried in a special procedure without examining the evidence. On March 13, 2023, he was sentenced to one year and four months' probation.

Ryazan

Nikolai Baranov

According to investigators, having learned that his friend had been called up for mobilisation, he intended to set fire to the military commissariat building and the Moskovsky regional court: on the night of October 9th, 2022, in a drunken state, he got onto the territory of the courthouse and threw two bottles of flammable liquid through the first-floor window of the building of the Moscow district court, thinking that he was near the building of the military commissariat. Baranov was charged with attempted intentional destruction of property (Criminal Code Article 167, part 2 using Article 30, part 3). He was arrested. Baranov pleaded guilty and explained his actions as ideologically motivated. In December, Baranov was placed under house arrest. On June 7, 2023 he was sentenced to one year of compulsory labour. The case was dealt with under a special procedure, i.e. without the examination of evidence in court.

Isyangulovo (Bashkortostan)

Denis Garayev, 40.

According to investigators, on September 26th, 2022, he tried to set the recruiting office of the military commissariat on fire by throwing a Molotov cocktail into it. He was charged with an attempt to destroy or damage property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). According to the Telegram channel «KushTau on-line», he was beaten during his arrest. Garaev pleaded guilty after which the case was heard in a shortened procedure. On November 23rd, 2022, the court gave him a one and a half year suspended sentence.

Arkhangelskoe village (Bashkortostan)

Ilyas Gabdulkhaev, student, 18.

According to investigators, he tried to set the military registration office of the Arkhangelsk district administration on fire by breaking a window and pouring flammable liquid inside. He was charged with an attempt to destroy or damage property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). He was in pre-trial detention. On January 23rd, 2023, Gabdulkhaev was given a year suspended sentence.

Bratsk (Irkutsk region)

Dmitry Mikheev, 21, former sound engineer at «Bratsk» TV and Radio network.

According to investigators, he tried to set fire to the local military recruiting office. After information about his detention was made public, the network he had been working for announced that he no longer worked there. His name was removed from the company’s website.

Omsk

Anton Platov, 32

According to the investigation, he was involved in attempted arson at the military registration and enlistment office on Magistralnaya Street. On the morning of February 9, 2023, the arsonist threw several Molotov cocktails through windows on the first floor, but the bottles did not break and there was no fire. The staff discovered traces of the attack when they came to work. They called the police. The law enforcement officers examined the premises and, in addition to the Molotov cocktails, found a bottle of vodka between the window frames and a bag with fuel, rags, duct tape and a lighter under the window on the roof of the outbuilding. Platov was placed in pre-trial detention. It is reported that he had previously evaded conscription.

Gulkevichi (Krasnodar Krai)

Leon Darsht, 19.

Darsht received an award from the city administration for his participation in a music contest and studies at the Armavir Law School. He was detained in December 2022 in connection with arson of a banner reading «We don’t leave our own guys behind». He remains in pre-trial detention.

A sabotage case was also brought against Darsht (Article 281 Section 1 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Novonikolayevsky urban settlement (Volgograd Oblast)

Vitaly Chebukov and Ilya Veryasov, 23 .

According to the investigation, two people attempted to set fire to part of the administration building of Kulikovsky rural settlement, where documents related to military registration were stored. Veryasov has reportedly been detained and taken into custody. A case of attempted arson was opened (Part 1, Article 167 of the Criminal Code, with application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code), as the fire extinguished itself due to rain. It was later revealed that they had also been charged with hooliganism (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code). The investigation claimed that Chebukov and Veryasov committed arson because they were dissatisfied with the political actions and decisions of the Russian authorities. A local resident told the v102.ru news agency that one of the suspected arsonists worked for a farmer and allegedly learned that he was unfit for mobilisation, while the other had a criminal record. Veryasov had been given two suspended sentences in 2018 for theft. On 28 September 2023, the court sentenced Chebukov and Veryasov to four years in a general regime penal colony.

Vyborg (Leningrad region)

Vladislav Shitikov, student of the Agrotechnological College in Begunitsy, 20.

In January 2021, he was arrested for 10 days following his participation in a rally in support of Alexei Navalny. According to investigators, on February 26, 2023, he threw a Molotov cocktail into one of the windows of the building of the military recruiting office and the social fund in Sosnovny Bor. He was taken into custody. As of August 4, 2023, whereabouts unknown.

Kamyshin (Volgograd region)

Pavel Magalyas, programmer, 37.

According to unconfirmed reports, he was born in Dnipro, but lived all his life in Kamyshin. According to the investigative bodies, on September 23, 2022, he threw two Molotov cocktails at the local administration building. Magalyas was taken into custody. He admitted guilt and in November the local newspaper published his apologies. «Infokam» media outlet reports that Magalyas had previously served as a preacher in the Lutheran town community and openly expressed pacifist views. He was charged for attempted damage to property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and hooliganism (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code). On July 26 2023, Magalyas was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Priozersk (Leningrad region)

Alexey Bogdanov, 42.

According to the official investigation, Bogdanov threw two Molotov cocktails over the fence of the editorial office building of the local newspaper «Red Star». Despite this the building did not catch fire. Supposedly, Bogdanov confused the local newspaper’s office with the office of a newspaper with the same name that is owned by the Russian Ministry of Defence. In September 2022, Media outlet «47news» published a video where Bogdanov explains his actions by saying that «his heart ached for the situation in the country». «I did not want to witness all of that», he says. In January 2023, he was given a year of suspended sentence, but on March 29 the Court of Appeals increased it to two years.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Sovetsky

Aziz Fayzullaev, 26.

According to information from the «Baza» Telegram channel, in June 2022 he voluntarily went to a police station and confessed to setting fire to the Pushkino village administrative building due to his anti-war position. On October 26, 2022, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

 

Additionally, a case was initiated under the article on damage to or the destruction of property in connection with arson against a military registration and enlistment office in Zubova Polyana (Mordovia). Unknown persons threw Molotov cocktails at the building. As a result, the rooms where data on enlisted men were kept were damaged, several computers were destroyed and one of the offices was completely burned down. It is alleged that four Molotov cocktails were found at the scene.

A similar case was also initiated in connection with the arson of the military recruiting office in Kirovsk (Leningrad Oblast, Northwestern Russia). According to the investigation officials, unknown persons drilled a hole in the insulated glass windows and inserted a hose from a canister.

It is also known about a similar case initiated in connection with an attempt to set fire to a military enlistment office in Cherepovets. Two 16-year-olds were detained in this case, claiming to have found a post on the Internet that they could get 30 thousand rubles for setting fire to a military registration and enlistment office. The arsonists mistakenly threw Molotov cocktails through the window of a separate office located in the same building. According to the mayor, the flammable liquid was lit in the street and the fire was put out before the fire brigade arrived. Later both received two year conditional sentences.

A case under the same article was opened in Novosibirsk against Dmitry Karimov, a 23-year-old resident of Krasnoobsk. According to investigators, he set fire to a banner supporting the «special military operation» twice: in August and on September 30th. According to him, he was detained by five unknown people who stuffed him into a car, handcuffed him and took him to a forest. There they strangled and threatened to shoot him if he did not confess to the arson. Karimov confessed to the crime, after which a search was conducted in his apartment. Then he was taken to the police station, where he tried to say that he wasn’t involved in the arson, but the officers threatened him with being drafted, and, frightened, he confessed again. He was released on bail. Karimov has been diagnosed with a lesion of the central nervous system and has both hearing and speech impediments. After reporting the torture, he was sent to be examined by a psychiatrist.

A case has also been brought under this article against Artem Begoyan, who is alleged to have committed four arson attacks on the railway in Chuvashia and Mordovia. The telegram channel Zonа Solidarnosti (Solidarity Zone) also names possible accomplices in the arsons, although one of them, Nikita Kitaikin, is known to have only driven Begoyan and his accomplice Denis Golubev to the site and was unaware of their actions. All three were taken into custody. Initially it was reported that Begoyan would also be charged with committing a terrorist act by prior conspiracy (Paragraph «a», Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code), but later Solidarity Zone reported that, according to Begoyan, the investigator would only charge him under this article. In March 2023, Solidarity Zone lawyer Adel Khaidarshin, who represented Begoyan, said that FSB officers had forced his client to give up his services. «They said they might take him to the forest where they burned the booth, allegedly for investigative purposes, and do something to him. They said that if he continued to work with his lawyer, they would take him out of the pre-trial detention centre. They also threatened to make his life in pre-trial detention more difficult, » Khaidarshin said, repeating Begoyan’s words. Later Begoyan claimed that no pressure had been put on him. The Solidarity Zone claimed that Begoyan had a negative attitude towards the Russian aggression in Ukraine and hoped that in this way the supply of ammunition, equipment and personnel to the war zone would be stopped. At the same time, Begoyan did not deny receiving money for carrying out arson attacks. It was also reported that investigators had discovered a group on Telegram whose administrators, based in Ukraine, invited people to stage terrorist attacks in Russia for money. Begoyan was accused of trying to act on the orders of the group’s administrators. Begoyan pleaded guilty to causing property damage, testified against his accomplices and concluded a pre-trial agreement. Due to the fact that Begoyan has at various times given contradictory information about his actions, the course of the investigation and even the charges, we cannot confidently include him among those prosecuted in the «anti-war case».

A case of attempted destruction of property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code in application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code) was also opened in Novosibirsk against Pavel Oleynikov, a resident of Krasnoyarsk. He was detained on March 9 on suspicion of arson at the aid collection centre for the mobilised. The centre collects humanitarian aid for Russian soldiers and weaves camouflage nets for them. According to the investigation, Oleynikov broke a glass in the building of the resource centre of the municipal institution «Active City» and threw a burning rag inside. Earlier there had already been an attempt to set fire to the building, but this was unsuccessful. The SHOT Telegram channel notes that Oleynikov is a follower of nationalist social media, has tattoos with swastikas and radical slogans, and has a criminal record for robbery and violence (apparently a conviction for using non-threatening violence against a representative of the authorities). According to the investigation, Oleynikov was looking for a job and met an unnamed person on Telegram who asked him to arrange arson for money. On October 23, 2023, Oleynikov was sentenced to two years and three months of compulsory labour.

Cases under the same article were also filed in Pronsk (Ryazan region), where unknown people damaged a door over the course of a failed arson, and in Shchelkovo, Moscow region, where two Molotov cocktails thrown into a building damaged two offices in a military registration and enlistment office, including the archive. On May 20th, 2022, the Telegram channel «112» reported that the suspect in both arsons was detained, as well as in the arson of a Kosino-Ukhtomsky district police department post in Moscow. The detainee’s name is Timofey Mokiy and it is alleged that he was previously related to the gang of «Autonomous Slavic Resistance» member Anton Vasilyev. in 2011, Vasilyev and three accomplices were sentenced to various terms in a case involving the murder of foreigners, terrorist attacks in a market and the arson of cars belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Later, the Telegram channel «Baza» reported that Mokiy is allegedly connected to an arson attempt not in Pronsk but in Balashikha, Moscow region. It remains unclear under which article this case has been filed. After that, it was reported that Mokiy told investigators that he received funds from Ukraine to attack military recruitment offices. It was also said that Mokiy is suspected of an assassination attempt on the propagandist Vladimir Soloviev. Earlier, several people were detained in connection to this case. According to investigators, they are connected to the terrorist organization «National Socialism/White Power» and were given instructions by Kyiv. A Baza reporter published an article that implies that at least some of the suspects in the attempted assassination of Soloviev acted independently because they oppose to the war in connection to their Nazist ideology. They also have taken responsibility for some of the arsons of military recruitment offices and as well as the arson of cars with symbols supporting the war. Andrey Volkov, who was detained in connection with arson of a car with symbols in support of the war in the Moscow suburb Pushkino, is involved in the same case; in this episode, a case was opened for property damage and hooliganism (Article 213 of the Criminal Code). The first reports of the detention said that a 28-year-old resident of the Kostroma region was detained and that an unknown person who filmed the arson was involved in the arson. According to some reports, a police car was set on fire. The suspect who was filming the video claimed that he had participated in setting fire to the first car that came by. The administrators of the Telegram channel, allegedly associated with the far-right group, claim that the suspect in the Pushkino car arson case is not connected to them.

Another case concerning the arson of a military recruitment office was filed as per the article on attempted murder committed with special cruelty in a generally dangerous way on a basis of hooligan motives (Paragraphs «d», «e», «i», Part 2, Article 105 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3, Article 30). According to investigators, a 24-year-old consultant at an electronics shop from Berezovskiy, Sverdlovsk region, committed arson on the night of March 11th. At that time, there was a guard in the building — a fact that, according to investigators, was known to the arsonist. The guard was not injured, the fire was put out, the police found containers with gasoline at the house of the accused. The alleged arsonist is in custody.

This article is also used in cases concerning arson of private property. For instance, on June 14th, 2022, the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Moscow Region reported that a suspect was detained and placed under house arrest for arson of a car in the town of Odintsovo «that had symbols supporting the Russian special military operation („Z“) on it» in the town of Odintsovo (Moscow region). According to official sources, the police found two containers of fuel while conducting a search at the suspect’s apartment.

Another case concerning intentionally destroying or damaging property was initiated in Nizhny Novgorod in connection to arson of a car belonging to local activist Natalia Abieva. Abieva fundraises for the needs of the Russian army operating in Ukraine. The Povolzhye Revolutionary Cell claimed responsibility for the arson.

The same Article was used in a case in Feodosia concerning arson of a SUV and a golf-cart which allegedly belonged to TV host and General Director of Russia Today, Dmitry Kiselev.

Cases may also be opened under this article for other types of damage done to cars. In April 2022, two residents of Sevastopol had their homes searched. According to the investigation, they had punctured the tires of a car with the letter «Z» on it. They were both arrested.

 

Infliction of light injury (Article 115 of the Criminal Code)

Intentional infliction of light injury which has caused temporary damage of health or an insignificant stable loss of general capacity for work. Possible punishment, depending on a part of the article, is up to two years of imprisonment.

Makhachkala

Sultan Akhmedkhanov, 21, Murad Aligadzhiev, 20, Magomed Ubaidulaev, 21, Biymurat Ibragimov, and an unknown person

According to the investigation, during the anti-mobilization protest on September 26th, 2022, they «punched and kicked various parts of the body» of police lieutenant S. Sarukhanov. The accused said that they were responding to the screams of a woman who had had her phone stolen at the protest. They suspected that Sarukhanov, who was not in uniform, had stolen it. The former three persons were arrested in September, Ibragimov — on October 1st. The first three were arrested in September and Ibragimov — on October 1st. Their lawyers said that Akhmedkhanov, Aligadzhiev and Ubaidullaev had signs of injuries after they had been arrested. Initially, all four persons were charged with violence against the authorities endangering the victim’s life or health (Part 2, Article 318 of the Criminal Code), however in March 2023 investigation reclassified the charges to infliction of light injury motivated by hooliganism (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 115 of the Criminal Code): investigation considered that since Sarukhanov was not in the uniform, the accused could not have known that he is a representative of the authorities. Each of the four persons was released from custody. In April and May 2023, Ubaidulaev’s and Aligadzhiev’s cases were respectively dismissed and they were fined 15,000 rubles to pay the court costs.

Aligadzhiev and Ubaidulaev are represented by lawyer Natela Agaeva who cooperates with OVD-Info.

 

Battery (Article 116 of the Criminal Code)

Battery or other violent acts that cause physical harm motivated by hooliganism, motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or motivated by hatred or enmity against any social group. Potential punishment is up to two years in prison.

St. Petersburg

Dmitry Martynichev, 49.

According to investigators, he struck a subway passenger, whose jacket had the letter Z on it, three times using his hands. Z is a symbol of support for Russian military action in Ukraine. The victim’s eyebrow was cut. The subway brawl happened in May 2022 after the activist rebuked the young man. Other passengers supported the person with a Z sign on his clothes and called Martynichev a «Ukrofascist.» Martynichev claims that he did not beat the passenger and that his eyebrow was cut accidentally during overcrowding. That day, passengers handed the activist over to the police. He was kept in local police station No. 77 for a day, then fined 500 rubles under the article on hooliganism (Part 1, Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and subsequently released. Later, the young man filed a complaint about the beating. On October 18th, 2022, officers came to Martynichev’s work and took him to police station No. 77. He was left alone and, since he was not taken into custody, he returned to work. On October 19th, he arrived at the Admiralteisky district police station with a lawyer. He signed an acknowledgement of travel restrictions. Martynichev eventually pleaded guilty. On May 16, 2023, he was sentenced to six months of suspended corrective labour.

Martynichev is also a suspect in a case of a false report of a terrorist act (Article 207 of the Criminal Code, see below).

 

Robbery (Part 2 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code)

Evident theft of someone else’s property, committed by a group of people by prior agreement, with illegal entry into a dwelling, room, or other storage, with the use of violence that is not dangerous to life or health, or with the threat of such violence, or on a large scale. The possible punishment is up to seven years in prison.

Moscow

Two women (26 and 30) and a man (30) who wished to remain anonymous.

According to investigators, on April 16, 2022, they attacked a man, whom they did not know, when he asked why they were putting up anti-war leaflets, and they stole his traumatic pistol. According to the detainees, the man unknown to them was the first to use violence; they spotted his gun during the scuffle, took it away, and threw it into a dumpster. All the three were taken into custody. One of the women was later placed under house arrest on October 27. The court sentenced them to a two-year term in prison, which it replaced with compulsory labour.

 

Threat of murder or causing grievous bodily harm (Article 119 of the Criminal Code)

The threat of murder or causing grievous bodily harm, if there were grounds for fearing the implementation of such a threat. The penalty is up to five years of imprisonment, depending on the part of the article.

Kansk

Vitaly Barinov, school teacher.

For more details see the section on Article 213 of the Criminal Code.

 

Storage of firearms (Part 1, Article 222 of the Criminal Code)

Illegal acquisition, transfer, storage, transport, or carrying of firearms, parts and ammunition (excluding high-caliber firearms, their parts and ammunition, non-military long-barreled, smoothbore firearms, their parts or cartridges, non-lethal firearms, their parts or cartridges). Punishable with up to five years imprisonment.

Nizhny Novgorod

Lev Lerman, electrician, 66.

His home was searched on the evening of March 3rd, 2022, and the next morning he was taken to the police station. According to the police, he was called in as a witness on a case that the investigator was investigating. Lerman’s relatives are convinced that the reason the case was opened was an anti-war statement he made on social media. His wife said that during the search, agents from the Center for Combatting Extremism were interested in her husband’s posts on Facebook and said that he had participated in a protest in memory of Boris Nemtsov. At the police station, Lerman was written up for violating the rules of participating in a protest (Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences), was pronounced guilty and jailed for ten days. While he was sitting in jail, a second search of his home took place. This time, they found ten cartridges in the entryway of the apartment building and the investigators believed that they belonged to the electrician. Lerman was placed in pre-trial detention. On October 10th, 2022, Lerman was sentenced to four years in a prison colony.

Both before and after the sentence, pro-government Telegram channels accused Lerman of having contacts with Ukrainian intelligence, claiming that he was communicating while in detention. The basis for this is a screenshot of Lerman’s correspondence with his acquaintance from Ukraine not long before the first search. Lerman’s wife claims that he was trying to learn details about his neighbour, who, they later learned, died in Ukraine on February 24th, 2022.

St. Petersburg

Denis Mikhailov, former coordinator of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters, 27. According to the investigation, eight cartridges and nine bullets from the Great Patriotic War were found in his possession during a search conducted in connection with the case of false mining (Article 207 of the Criminal Code, see below). Mikhailov has left Russia.

 

Storage of explosives (Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code)

Illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transport or carrying of explosives or explosive devices. Punishable up to 20 years imprisonment, depending on which part of the article is used.

Mordovia (city unknown

Unknown person, 21.

According to investigators, he had gunpowder and chemicals at his home. He confessed and said that he was planning to burn or blow up a government building as a protest against the war. In early February 2023, it emerged that he had been given a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 30,000 rubles.

Kaliningrad

Vyacheslav Popov, 44.

For more details, see section on Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Voronezh

Alexander Dimitrenko, 30.

For further details, see the section on Part 1, Article 281 of the Criminal Code.

Belgorod

Ilya Ch., resident of Kaliningrad, 28.

For more details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Sevastopol

Maxim Lisyuk

According to Nariman Jelyal (the vice chairman of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, has been sentenced to 17 years in a strict regime penal colony on charges of involvement in the sabotage of the gas pipeline), Lisyuk (with whom he has shared a cell) after the war began «wrote a comment against military action and had harsh words for the Russian President». A few days later police came with a search warrant into Lisyuk’s apartment and discovered a TNT block. He was taken into custody. Shortly before the start of persecution, he had a daughter. On 20 June, 2022, Lisyuk was given a suspended sentence of six years, with a two-year probation, and a fine of 10,000 rubles (US$130).

Simferopol

Igor Kupich, resident of Pionerskoe village, 39.

For more details, see the section on Аrticle 213 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code.

 

Manufacture of explosives (Part 1, Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code)

Illegal manufacture of explosives as well as the illegal manufacture, alteration or repair of explosive devices. Potential punishment — up to ten years imprisonment.

Kaliningrad

Vyacheslav Popov, 44.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

 

Irina Izmaylova, an activist from the «Recycling for Charity» environmental movement in Samara is also persecuted with the use of this article. She had a boyfriend, Alexander Kudashev, who joined the Russian Volunteer Corps, fighting for Ukraine. Kudashev believes this led to Izmaylova’s persecution. He didn’t inform her about his involvement in the war. They both assisted Ukrainian refugees in Moldova during the spring and summer of 2023. On 31 August 2023, Izmaylova was detained and questioned without any documentation and any lawyer. That day she gave testimony on having explosives stored at her home. The next day her apartment was searched. Her relatives and lawyer were not allowed during the investigation. The court sent her into custody. Although Izmailova had a lawyer, investigators assigned her a different one. Her lawyer suggested first that the explosives might have been planted during the search, as Izmaylova’s relatives doubt her capability for radical actions. But later the lawyer informed that Izmaylova met someone called Vitaly in Moldova who actually forced her to carry out his tasks, threatening her with the murder of her relatives in Ukraine. Izmaylova really manufactured an explosive but did not plan to use it.

Insulting the flag (Article 329 of the Criminal Code)

Insulting the National Emblem of the Russian Federation or the National Flag of the Russian Federation. Punishable with up to one year in prison.

Vsevolozhsk (Leningrad region)

Stanislav Semenyuk, former light operator in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, 34.

On January 31st, 2021, the day of protests in support of Alexei Navalny, he added the slogan «Freedom to political prisoners!» to the advertisement projections on the wall of the Philharmonic. Semenyuk was suspended from work and reprimanded. 3 days later he resigned. After his resignation, he became self-employed, participated in staging performances, shooting films and advertising. According to investigators, he set fire to a flag with the letter Z hanging in the Yubileynoye-Ruchi gardening community. He has been detained. After Semenyuk was released from the temporary detention centre, he was also written up for discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). According to the protocol, the letter Z is «a patriotic symbol generally accepted and understandable to Russians, directly identified as a symbol of support for the Russian Armed Forces.» The police insist that Semenyuk deliberately undermined the trust and image of the Russian military and discredited the goals and objectives of using the army during the «special operation.» Later, the head of the press service of the Yabloko party, Igor Yakovlev, wrote on Facebook that the administrative case was closed. Semenyuk has left Russia.

Moscow

Anna Kuzminykh, 28, a member of Pussy Riot.

The charges were laid in response to an anti-war performance held in Tbilisi on March 27th, 2022. Participants in Putin masks sang and led dances before burning a mannequin representing Putin along with a flag. Kuzminykh is currently located outside of Russia. She has been placed on a wanted list.

Obninsk (Kaluga region)

Elizaveta Gutovskaya, 41.

According to investigators, an unidentified woman spat on a Russian flag that was attached to a car bumper. The car participated in a car parade on March 6th, 2022, in support of the Russian army. On August 18, she was sentenced to a year’s restrictions on freedom.

Dmitrov (Moscow region)

Evgeny Yaremenko, 37.

According to investigators, he supposedly took a flag off a flagpole located on Minin street and tore it down. Later a case was also opened against Yaremenko for theft leading to significant damage to a person (Paragraph «C», Part 2, Article 158 of the Criminal Code) — he was accused of stealing a bicycle. The court placed him under pre-trial detention. Witnesses told the court that Yaremenko during apprehension, among other things, cried ‘No to war’, ‘Russian Occupants’, as well as calling for Putin’s resignation. The man has also been accused of discrediting the Russian armed forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Criminal Code) as well as of disobeying a lawful order of police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). In the first case he was fined 30,000 rubles. On September 23, 2022, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

​​Anadyr

Dmitry Aritkulov, 45.

For more details, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Sevastopol

Two unidentified persons

A criminal case has been opened in relation to desecration of the flag and vandalism motivated by political hatred (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code). According to the prosecution, the two citizens of Sevastopol did this to express their disagreement with the decision by the Russian government to conduct the special military operation to protect the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic on the territory of Ukraine. One of the defendants was sentenced to two years and one month restrictions on freedom, and the other to one year and three months restrictions on freedom.

Gleb Malkov

On August 25, 2023, he came to an impromptu memorial, presumably dedicated to the deceased leaders of the PMC «Wagner, ” Yevgeniy Prigozhin and Dmitri Utkin. He kicked their portraits and also stepped on the Russian flag. Pro-Russian blogger Alexander Talipov, who regularly spreads information about pro-Ukrainian residents of Crimea and reports on them to the authorities, published a video in which a Sevastopol resident explained that he kicked the Russian flag in protest against Russia’s attack on „his country“ — Ukraine. Later, Talipov posted a video of Malkov apologising. On the website of the Leninsky District Court of Sevastopol, there is a case file for Malkov under the article on petty hooliganism (Part 1 of Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences), which was received and considered on August 26. It is unknown what punishment was imposed on him, but it is likely that he may have been placed under administrative arrest. On September 4, a case for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) was also brought against the young man in the same court. On September 27, it was reported that Malkov had also been charged with vandalism motivated by hatred (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code) for placing „symbols of Ukrainian nationalists“ on various infrastructure objects in the village of Kacha, Nakhimov District, Sevastopol.

 

 

Insulting a representative of authority (Article 319 of the Criminal Code)

Insulting a representative of authority. Punishable with up to a year of correctional labor.

Syktyvkar

Alexey Ivanov, programmer.

According to investigators, he stood with an antiwar picket on February 24th, 2022. He was then approached by police officers and called them fascists. He has left Russia and has been put on a wanted list.

Novosibirsk

Aleksey Kortnev, musician and leader of the band ‘Neschastny Sluchai’ («Unfortunate Event»), aged 56.

Kortnev is persecuted following a conflict with a police officer, which occurred after the band’s concert in Novosibirsk was cancelled in February 2023. The performance was moved to a different venue at the last minute and later cancelled, allegedly due to smoke coming from a nearby building. Fire crews and police arrived at the scene and Kortnev was detained. A pro-invasion Telegram channel «real cultras Z» reported that the musician had shown his middle finger to an officer after finding out about the concert’s cancellation. No charges were filed against him at the time. Kortnev had previously spoken out against the war, and his band has repeatedly faced pressure. In June 2022, electricity was turned off at one of their concerts (in Nizhny Novgorod). In spring 2023, two of the band’s concerts, in Votkinsk and Izhevsk, were prevented from happening altogether. On August 25, 2023, the court dismissed the case and Kortnev was fined 20,000 rubles, which he had paid by then.

Lipetsk

Alexander Grigoriev, construction worker, member of the Yabloko party, 61.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Moscow

Vitaly Yermishin

For further details please see the section on part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code.

 

Insulting the feelings of religious people (Part 1, Article 148 of the Criminal Code)

Public actions that express apparent disrespect toward society, committed with an intention to insult the feelings of religious people. Punishable with up to a year in prison.

Khabarovsk

Andrey Tsapkalenko, 61.

According to investigators, during a protest on March 6th, 2022, he expressed apparent disrespect toward society and insulted the feelings of religious people, in particular by calling the Patriarch the Antichrist. The criminal case was launched on June 6th. On December 29th, the case was dismissed due to absence of corpus delicti. Tsapkalenko signed an agreement to appear.

He is represented by OVD-Info attorney Vitaly Tykhta.

St. Petersburg

Maxim Yevstropov, founder of the Party of the Dead, 43.

The case was opened because of Easter posts on Telegram and VKontakte. In the posts, there were photos from a protest at a cemetery with a person in a black gown with a masked face holding anti-war posters. In September, activists of the party in Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region were subject to a search In December 2022, Yevstropov was placed on the wanted list, he was arrested in absentia.

Intigam Aliyev

Supposedly a freestyle wrestler. In late March 2023, he stopped his car at a pedestrian crossing. He approached another driver and expressed his negative opinions of Russians and Christians, calling them fascists because of the war in Ukraine and because of their attitude towards people from the Caucasus. The conversation was recorded on video. It was initially reported that the man’s name was Vahid Javadly, but it later emerged that Javadly was the owner of the car and Aliyev the driver. According to media reports, the police tried to detain Aliyev but he used «physical violence as well as combat techniques» against them and fled. Because of the incident, a case was initiated against him under Article 318 part 1 of the Criminal Code, on the use of violence against a representative of authority. On April 5, it was reported that Aliyev had been detained and a video of him apologising was released. He was taken into custody.

 

Mass disorder (Article 212 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1.1, Article 212 of the Criminal Code: Incitement to mass disorder

Incitement, recruitment or other involvement in mass disorder. Punishable with up to ten years' imprisonment.

Kazan

Timur Tukhvatullin, 20, Andrey Boyarshinov, 39, and Marina Ionova (Shoetova), 23

Tukhvatullin and Boyarshinov were detained after police raids on March 17th, 2022. Searches took place at several civil and political activists’ homes in the city. During the search, Boyarshinov was physically threatened and promised to strip his elderly mother naked if he did not hand over his phone and its password. According to investigators, an unknown person in a Telegram chat 'Protest Kazan' on March 3rd discussing upcoming antiwar protests had written about the need to purchase megaphones and a means for armed resistance against government officials. On March 19th, both of them were released without precautionary measures; however, Boyarshinov was afterwards taken away in an unknown direction. Later, information surfaced that he was prosecuted for the public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code, see below). On June 2nd, lawyer and OVD Info partner Ruslan Ignatiev stated that Tukhvatullin’s case was closed. The investigative committee could not prove his involvement.

Ionova was detained on March 25th, 2022, on the day that the Kazan activists were searched again in connection to the same case. Ionova was removed from a train and her apartment was searched, after which it became known that she was a suspect in the case. She spent two days at a pre-trial detention center. After that, she was released under a promise to turn up at first notice.

Saint Petersburg

Egor Pavlov, a student at the Polytechnic University, 19, and Veronika Kuzmina, 22.

Apart from involvement in mass riots, both of them were accused of public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The reason for the case was the publications in a number of Telegram channels, including anti-war channels, dedicated to various types of active resistance made on September 24, 2022. Both were detained after searches and then released after questioning on personal recognizance. Searches were also carried out at the home of activist Daria Naranovich and her relatives.

According to official reports, Kuzmina flew to Georgia via Belarus in June 2023. She was put on a wanted list and arrested in absentia.

Initially it was reported that Marianella Filatova was also involved in the case, but it later emerged that she had been charged with incitement to extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Egor Pavlov was also allegedly prosecuted for preparing to set fire to a military recruiting centre (see above) and for making a false bomb threat (see below).

Moscow

Vasily Neustroev, member of the St. Petersburg regional council of the Yabloko party, 27.

For further details, see the section on Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code.

 

Part 3, Article 212 of the Criminal Code: Calls for mass disorder

Calls for mass disorder or participation in it, as well as calls for violence against citizens. Possible punishment — up to two years of imprisonment.

Kazan

Ruslan Terentyev. Detained following searches on March 17, 2022. The searches took place at the homes of a number of civil and political activists in the city. Initially, Terentyev was charged with taking part in mass riots (Part 1.1, Article 212 of the Criminal Code, see above). According to the investigation, on March 3 an unknown person wrote in the telegram chat room «Protest Kazan», where the upcoming anti-war action was discussed, about the need to buy megaphones and means of armed resistance against the authorities. On March 19, Terentyev was released without any restrictions. At the end of March, Terentiev went missing. It was later discovered that he was under an order not to leave the city. On June 7th, Terentiev was sentenced to restrictions on his freedom for one year.

Novosibirsk

Takhir Arslanov, 67.

For more details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Repeat violation of the regulations of holding public events (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code)

Repeat violation of the regulations on holding public events. Punishment up to five years imprisonment.

Ivanovo

Olga Nazarenko, pharmacist, activist, 47.

For more information, please see the section on Part 2, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code.

 

Dissemination of fake information on the armed forces of the Russian Federation (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code

Public dissemination of deliberately false information containing data on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the purposes of defending the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, supporting international peace and security, as well as data on the exercising by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for the indicated purposes, as well as data on the provision of assistance by volunteer formations, organisations or individuals in the performance of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. This article was introduced into the Criminal Code in March 2022, the provision on the activities of government agencies abroad was added in April, and the provision on volunteer formations and assistance to the Armed Forces was added in March 2023. Initially, the maximum penalty was three years' imprisonment; in March 2023, the penalty was increased.

Tomsk

Viktor Lavrentiev, a retired police lieutenant colonel, 61.

According to investigators, he published false information about the Russian army’s actions in Ukraine on social media according to «witnesses on the ground», in particular about the destruction of a maternity hospital in Mariupol by the Russian army. A court has ordered a ban on certain actions as a precautionary measure. Lavrentiev signed a non-disclosure agreement. On May 31, 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of one million rubles.

Seversk (Tomsk region)

Marina Novikova, lawyer, 64.

According to investigators, she published false information on social media about the Russian army’s actions in Ukraine based on the words of «witnesses on the ground.» A court has ordered a ban on certain actions as a precautionary measure. In early October, 2022, Novikova’s health condition deteriorated significantly: after contracting the coronavirus, cardiac complications arose; during her hospitalisation, she was prescribed heart surgery and constant medical supervision. She motioned for a stay of the proceedings pending surgery and for permission to testify and answer questions while sitting down, but the court denied the motions. According to the case information on the court’s website, hearings continue to be scheduled regularly, but the defendant does not attend them. According to Novikova’s husband, she is constantly gasping for air and suddenly losing consciousness or spatial orientation. At the same time, the doctors at the local hospital insist that her state of health is good enough to participate in the proceedings. Novikova’s husband believes that this is the result of pressure from the prosecutor’s office. On April 28, 2023, Novikova was sentenced to a fine of one million rubles.

Prokopievsk (Kemerovo region)

Andrey Novashov, journalist.

The Net Freedoms project, which represents Novashov, reported that the reason for the charges against him was his repost of Victoria Ivleva’s article «Mariupol.Blockade». An investigator offered him the chance to apologize «to the face of the armed forces» but he refused. The precautionary measure chosen was a ban on certain actions: namely, Novashov has been banned from using a phone and the Internet. On April 12th, 2022, the journalist received an official charge: it involved reposting a translated story by the Mariupol mayoral advisor Petro Andryushchenko about the seige of the city, in addition to the presence of four posts by Novashov himself on vk.com. In one of them, according to investigators, the journalist «distorts the purposes and tasks of the Russian armed forces» pointing at «the violence in the actions of the Russian armed forces» instead of stating that the military «is defending the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens through demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine.» On March 6, 2023, he was sentenced to eight months of corrective labour through wage docking.

Magas

Isabella Yevloeva, journalist, former editor-in-chief of Fortanga.

At first, the media outlet reported that the grounds for her first felony charge was a post made on Yevloeva’s Telegram channel on March 23rd, 2022, where she called the Z sign «synonymous with aggression, death, pain, and unconscionable manipulation.» However, the decision to initiate criminal proceedings (available to the editor) mentions two posts that were made between March 5th and 9th. In the given period, Yevloeva twice wrote about Ingushetia residents that were taken hostage by Ukrainian troops, twice posted reports on losses, as well as her own text about Ingush residents who died in the war. There was also a post about an open letter with reflections on the situation in Ukraine that may have been authored by an FSB officer. Yevloeva is not in Russia.

In April 28th, it was made known that Yevloyeva is to be subject to another charge according to the same article due to her comments on the murders of civilians in Bucha.

On July 27th it became known that a third case against Yevloeva has been opened under the same article. This time, the grounds were a June 26th publication in Fortanga’s Telegram channel about the losses of the Russian army and an explosion in a Kremenchuk shopping center. Yevloeva was put on the wanted list. To try to get her to stop writing, security services put significant pressure on her relatives who remained in Ingushetia–searches of their homes, calling them in for questioning and many other forms of pressure.

Islam Belokiev, blogger, 30.

According to investigators, on March 7th, 2022, under the guise of reliable information, he disseminated «fakes» about the actions of the Russian armed forces: the reason for the prosecution was a video in which Belokiyev spoke about an Ingush soldier who had been captured in Ukraine. In 2021, a case concerning the rehabilitation of Nazism was brought against him, and later in January 2022 a case was opened concerning the public justification of terrorism. The court ordered Belokiev’s detention and he was put on an international wanted list.

In addition, another case was opened against Belokiev for rehabilitation of Nazism (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code), public calls for terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and participation in a military conflict on the territory of a foreign state contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation (Part 3, Article 208 of the Criminal Code). In March 2023, a case was opened against Belokiev for organising financing of terrorism: according to investigators, he, being a member of an ‘unlawful armed formation’ that participates in the Russian war against Ukraine on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, organised fundraising for the needs of the said formation.

Previously it was reported that an unknown person was facing felony charges in Ingushetia. Most likely, this was Isabella Yevloeva.

Novosibirsk

Irina Tolmacheva, civil activist and ex-chair of the Alliance of Teachers, 32.

The case was initiated because of a comment posted on the page of Novosibirsk city council authority Sergey Boyko. The comment stated that the Russian Ministry of Defense does not acknowledge the facts concerning the number of Russian military deaths in Ukraine. Tolmacheva states that she posted this comment on March 3rd, 2022, one day before the introduction of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code. The indictment said that she had made the post on March 4th. She signed an agreement not to leave and agreed to collaborate with the investigation. On September 22, the court returned the case to the prosecutor to clarify the exact time the post was made and the time zone difference between Moscow and Novosibirsk. In December, the case was brought back to court again. On June 7, 2023, during the hearing, the prosecutor requested that Tolmacheva be sentenced to two years' imprisonment, stating that she had committed a crime of moderate gravity. Tolmacheva replied that it was considered a minor offence at the time the case was opened. The prosecutor then asked for a sentence of ten months of correctional labour. On July 6, the court sentenced Tolmacheva to nine months of correctional labour.

Elena Tardasova-Yun, activist, adherent to the ideology of the «Citizens of the USSR» movement, 52.

According to her passport, her surname is Yun. She was detained after a search. The reason for initiating the case was a repost of a WhatsApp message about a memorial service in the village of Mashkovo for a soldier who had died in Ukraine in a public group on Vkontakte. The author of the original message wrote that a thousand coffins had arrived in Novosibirsk. Tardasova-Yun was released after signing an agreement not to leave. However, she denied that any precautionary measure was enforced. On August 3rd, 2022, she was detained in Prokopyevsk (Kemerovo region) and transferred to Novosibirsk for interrogation. The following day contact with her was lost. On August 5th, information appeared that the court banned Tardasova-Yun from certain actions as a precautionary measure. On December 26, Tardasova-Yun was placed in pretrial detention because she had supposedly posted two videos on her social media page, thereby violating the pretrial restrictions banning her from engaging in certain activities. Her lawyer said that at the time of the posts her pretrial restrictions had already expired–they were imposed for the duration of the investigation, and the investigation had already concluded. On February 22nd, 2023, Tardasova-Yun was sentenced to 11 months of corrective labour through wage docking, and was released from custody in the courtroom

She is represented by OVD-Info attorney Elena Chirkina.

Evgeny Fokin, 18. A minor at the moment the prosecution started and ended.

According to investigators, an adolescent wrote a comment to a post in the «Novosibirsk Coalition 2020» Telegram chat. It subsequently became known that the case was in connection to a repost of a publication by Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, about the killing of civilians by the Russian military during the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Several linguistic examinations showed the «absence of statements of verifiable facts» in the repost. On November 7th, 2022, the court dismissed the case, ordering the teenager to be supervised by his mother for a month from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Helga Pirogova, city council representative, 34.

A case has been brought forward in connection with a tweet she posted on July 15th, 2022, which included an emotional comment on a Mediazona article about Russian army volunteers who died in Ukraine. Head of the regional legislative assembly Andrey Panferov wrote to the prosecutor’s office demanding the launch of the case. By that moment the tweet had already been deleted. On July 21st, Pirogova was detained after a charity auction and brought to the police, who administered a charge of discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). However, the following day, head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin demanded a criminal case be launched, which was done immediately. Pirogova has left Russia and was placed on a wanted list. On August 15th, the administrative case concerning a tweet by Pirogova was halted. Later, another charge was added to the case–an interview she gave to the television channel «Dozhd» in which she talked about the criminal case against her. Two expert witnesses did not find any information about the Russian military’s activities or negative opinions about them in her statements. Earlier, cases of fraud were brought forward against Pirogova’s assistants (Part 1, Article 159 of the Criminal Code), see below. In June 2023, Pirogova was stripped of her parliamentary mandate.

Kopeysk (Chelyabinsk region)

Pyotr Borovinskikh, 46

According to investigators, the grounds for launching this case were posts made about the shelling of Mariupol on Borovinskikh’s page «Kopeysk without Putin’s fascism» on «VKontakte.» Later, a case was brought against Borovinskikh concerning disrespect for the Days of Military Glory and commemorative dates related to the defense of the Fatherland (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code) and on discrediting the Russian armed forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Sterlitamak

Raisa Boldova, 61, a Russian language tutor.

According to investigators, «on a social media platform» she posted photos and videos that contained «the signs of public spreading of knowingly false information» about the «special operation» in Ukraine. In the videos and comments she talked about the airstrike on a Mariupol maternity hospital which led to the death of a pregnant woman and about the frequent shelling of Mariupol by the Russian army. In December 2022, Boldova was ordered to undergo an outpatient psychiatric evaluation. On February 22, 2023 she received a one-year suspended sentence of corrective labour through wage docking.

Boldova is being represented by OVD-Info lawyer Aidar Khyzyrov.

Ussuriisk (Primorsky krai)

Fedor Erbes, taxi driver, previously served in the Guards Air Assault Brigade, 28.

According to investigators, an unidentified man promoted a «video that discredited the Russian military forces» in a messenger app which showed destroyed cities in Donbas and destroyed Russian military equipment, and had audio of two conversations between soldiers. The conversations told of losses among servicemen and difficulties they face trying to retreat from the frontlines. He has been detained and it is claimed that he «admitted» that the video was indeed «a fake.» He was released after signing an agreement to appear at first notice. On August 2nd, 2022, Erbes was sentenced to six months of corrective labor through wage docking.

Naberezhnie Chelny

Sergei Novokreshchennykh, 48.

According to investigators, between February 24 and March 6, 2022, he posted «non-credible information about the special operation in Ukraine» on vk.com — these were comments on a video characterising the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine as criminal. Novokreshchennykh was also charged under an article on incitement to hatred (Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code) — on the basis of the comments of June 26 and July 2, 2021, which contained certain signs of humiliation of human dignity. In court, Novokreshchennykh stated that he was drunk when he wrote all the comments. On the first episode, he partially pleaded guilty, but noted that he did not remember that he had «humiliated anyone’s dignity», on the second episode, concerning «fakes», the man did not plead guilty. On March 24, 2023, he was sentenced to three years and one month’s suspended imprisonment. On May 16, the court of appeal commuted the sentence to six months of corrective labour.

Ruslan Ganeev, web developer, 39.

The case was initiated for two comments on VKontakte made in March 2022. In the first, he stated that «according to NATO intelligence, the Russian army is beginning to retreat from Kyiv», and in the second expressed his opinion about the number of killed civilians and soldiers in Ukraine. The prosecution refers to several videos of Russian Ministry of Defence briefings which took place between February 24th and March 30th, 2022, as proof that Ganeev’s statements were false. The case went to court, but Ganeev did not appear at the first hearing. The case was then suspended because the defendant fled. Once Ganeev was taken into custody, the proceedings resumed. On March 6, 2023, he was sentenced to 10 months of corrective labour through wage docking.

Marat Yagudin

In October 2022 he was fined under the article of the Code of Administrative Offences about discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 part 1). A criminal case was opened over comments published on VKontakte on March 19 and May 18. Yagudin pleaded guilty, saying that at the time he posted the comments he disagreed with the deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine and decided to express his dissatisfaction in this way. He published a public apology in the form of advertisements in three issues of the city newspaper and also donated 5,000 rubles to a charity fund for children with leukaemia. During the proceedings, Yagudin was on personal recognisance. On July 13, 2023, he was sentenced to six months of corrective labour.

Olovyannaya small town (Zabaikalsky krai)

Pyotr Mylnikov, civic activist. Prior to the case, he worked as a head of the heating network at the Ministry of Defense.

According to investigators, he made two posts with «knowingly false information under the guise of reliable information» in the public Telegram group «We live in the ruins» he administered. Mylnikov told Meduza that the case concerns two documents: one of them says that the bodies of war casualties are to be burned, and the other «that the most ideologically motivated guys from Yunarmiya will be conscripted to the war as soon as they turn 18.» He has confessed. On May 30th, 2022, he was sentenced to a fine of one million rubles.

Voronezh

Nina Belyaeva, an ex-member of People’s Deputies Council of Semiluki District of the Voronezh Region, 33.

According to investigators, on March 22nd, 2022, at the meeting of the Semilukskiy District Council, she «spreaded knowingly false information about the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine under the guise of reliable information.» She was also claimed to have made «insults towards Russian military men, ” condemning their actions. She is currently located outside of Russia. She has been placed on a wanted list. In July 2022, Belyaeva announced that she steps down from the position of council representative.

Later it became known that Belyaeva was also suspected of inciting terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The grounds were apparently her interview with Ukrainian blogger Rostislav Kalatsinsky, in which she allegedly «publicly expressed calls for a violent change of power» in Russia.

On June 27th, 2022, the Investigative Committee reported that the deputy was arrested in absentia. The report noted that she was accused of two crimes under this article.

Orenburg

Ivan Moskalenko, 23.

According to investigators, on March 25th, 2022, the young man made a video and social media posts «with knowingly false information under the guise of credible information» related to the war in Ukraine. The details of the case and the precautionary measures involved are unknown.The details of the case and the precautionary measure are unknown. He admitted his guilt and expressed regret for his actions. On July 11th, 2022, Moskalenko was sentenced to 8 months of correctional labor.

Tyumen

David Eichendorf, developer, 23.

Former name: Eduard Shcherbakov. According to investigators, on April 11th, 2022, an unidentified man «made posts on the Internet with statements that consisted of knowingly false information about the actions of the Russian armed forces under the guise of reliable information.» In addition, a case was launched concerning the spread of information on the Internet about the military glory days and other commemorated dates in Russia related to defending the Fatherland, which expressed «a pronounced disrespect to society» (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, a Tyumen resident uploaded an image of Hitler onto the «Immortal regiment» website that collects photos of Great Patriotic War heroes. The investigators claim that the man has admitted his guilt. He is being held in a pre-trial detention center. On July 21st, 2022, he was sentenced to 6 months in a colony. He was released on August 8th the same year. Eichendorf later recounted that, during his home detention in May, security forces kicked him and taped his mouth shut when he started calling for help. They then blindfolded him and took him for interrogation, where they continued hitting, insulting, and threatening him.

In November 2022, Eichendorf and an acquaintance were searched in Kursk for an unknown reason.

Anton Shamonov, 40.

According to investigators, on March 24th, 2022, he posted a comment on social media platform vk.com describing the actions of the Russian Army as «criminal, causing deaths (civilians and conscript soldiers.)» On July 20th, 2022, he was sentenced to 6 months of correctional labour.

Orel

Sergey Nosov, activist and blogger, 40.

According to investigators, on April 3rd, 2022, Nosov posted in his Telegram channel («The Nosov List») information about the killings of civilians in Bucha and Irpen by Russian military personnel, as well as a video in which he accused the Russian government of the genocide of Ukranian civilians. In September after his home was searched in connection with the case on «fakes» opened against Ilya Ponomarev (see below), Nosov left Russia. In December he was placed on the wanted list.

Omsk

Evgeny Kruglov, archaeologist, 47.

In May, Kruglov’s electronic devices were confiscated in connection to his posts about Ukraine. After that, he was fined 15 thousand rubles as per the Article on discrediting the Russian armed forces (Article 20.3.3 on the Criminal Code). The criminal case was launched in connection with the reposting of a news report about the events in Bucha and Mariupol in a closed group on social media network vk.com. Kruglov was detained at the end of July when he was on an expedition in a forest in Tyumen region. He was taken to Omsk and interrogated, after which he was released upon signing an agreement not to leave. On August 11th, the court ruled that Kruglov had to undertake a hospital examination. On August 16th, he was placed in a hospital. He tried to leave the country, but was detained by the FSB on the way. The court then placed him in pre-trial detention. On December 12, 2022, Kruglov was sentenced to 8 months of corrective labor.

He is represented by OVD-Info attorney Andrey Ognev.

Olga Belova, former head of the Omsk branch of the Alliance of Doctors, 48.

Details are unknown. In March and again in May 2022, the activist was fined 25,000 and 30,000 rubles respectively for discrediting the military (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for anti-war reposts and comments on VKontakte. In April, the woman was fired from the Omsk clinical cardiology dispensary, where she worked as a psychologist, because of her anti-war position. Belova posted a video recording of a conversation with the head physician Olga Korennova and the head of the personnel department on her VKontakte page. In the video, they say that the Ministry of Health received instructions to dismiss the activist, so she had to choose between work and politics. The publication of the video became the formal reason for terminating the contract: the management of the dispensary accused Belova of disclosing personal data by showing what Korennova looked like. Later, the court refused to reinstate her at her job. On the night of November 2, 2022, Belova was taken to the Department of Counteracting Extremism, where she gave explanations about her regular anti-war publications. She was then released without a violation writeup. On January 31, 2023, information appeared that she had left Russia.

Asino (Tomsk region)

Alexey Shitik, journalist, politician, 33.

On August 1st, 2022, FSB officers searched his parents’ apartment and confiscated all mobile devices. Shitik has been outside of Russia since 2018. According to the search documents, there is a criminal case opened against him for spreading «knowingly false information» on the financing of the Russian military, civilian victims in Ukraine and the atrocities in Bucha. These were posted in Odnoklassniki group called «Forest patrol Asino.» In September 2023, it became known that Shitik had been put on a wanted list.

Penza

Dmitry Volkov

According to investigators, while he was imprisoned in Penza’s Colony 5 for embezzlement and intentional infliction of minor bodily harm against a state official, «he tried to create a negative image of the Russian military among other convicts» by telling them about the killing of civilians in Bucha and on Snake Island, and that the Ukrainian military had sunk the naval cruiser «Moskva.» On September 30, 2022, Volkov was released from the prison colony and was placed under supervision for eight years. On October 17, he was given a one-year suspended sentence with a 1.5 year probationary period.

Irkutsk

Kamelia Slish, beauty salon administrator, 36.

In December 2022, she and her husband were searched and taken for questioning that lasted nine hours. The detainees were asked about their friend from Ukraine and shown screenshots of VKontakte posts and reposts from March-April 2022. Slish was later summoned to the Investigative Committee. The case was brought on the basis of posts and reposts made on her Telegram channel between March and May 2022. Among them was a photo of men in camouflage shooting civilians, with Slish commenting «Murderers, inhuman monsters, bastards». On May 22, 2023, Slish was given a one-and-a-half-year suspended sentence.

Vladimir Timofeev, 51.

Previously it was reported about an unknown person whose case under this part of the article, as well as the public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) was pending before the First Eastern District Military Court. It turns out that the case concerns Timofeev.

For more details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Ilya Karpenko, serviceman.

Previously served in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Details of the case are unknown. On September 5, Karpenko was sentenced to an 800,000 ruble fine.

Lipetsk

Alexander Grigoriev, construction worker, member of the «Yabloko» political party, 61.

According to investigators, in March 2022 he published the «knowingly false information» about the activities of the Russian army «via a media platform on which he was the administrator». Those were a publication on Yandex.Zen and a comment on the RIA Lipetsk website. The case was opened on August 26th, 2022. On August 29th Grigoriev was arrested at a work-site cafeteria in Staryi Oskol (Belgorod region) and taken to Lipetsk where his home was searched. Then Grigoriev was taken to the Investigative Committee where he was questioned in the presence of a court-appointed lawyer: he was asked, in particular, about to his attitude to the war and the letters Z and V, and why he didn’t capitalize the word «putin». After the interrogation, Grigoriev was released under obligation to appear. At first he was told that the case had been opened under point «d» of the second part of Article 207.3 (disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian military motivated by hatred), but he later learned that he was accused under the first part of the Article. After the appearance of information about the criminal case, Grigoriev lost his job: the employer did not prolong the contract with the activist, claiming that he does not need «criminals». The activist was also charged with insulting a representative of authority (Article 319 of the Criminal Code) in connection with comments he made about the investigator in charge of the «fakes» case on Yandex.Dzen and VKontakte (in particular, Grigoriev called him a «little bastard»). According to the latest information, paragraph «d» of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code still appears in the joint case. Grigoriev was on his own recognizance. In September, the court arrested Grigoryev in absentia and placed him on a wanted list. r

Grigoriev is being represented by OVD-Info lawyer Maxim Zolotarev.

Khabarovsk

Miroslav Nych, soldier.

Details are unknown. The case is at court.

Maykop

Elena Sumina, 52.

According to investigators, she left a comment with «deliberately false information about alleged hostile, violent actions (activities) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation against persons, including children, residing in the territory of the Republic of Ukraine during the special military operation» under an Instagram video about a flash mob in support of the «special military operation». On September 21st, 2022, Sumina was fined the amount of her yearly pension: 209,811 rubles, 36 kopecks. Sumina pleaded guilty; the case was processed in a special procedure in one day.

Domodedovo (Moscow region)

Andrei Adarin, taxi driver, 49. He used to be a public figure in Altai.

According to investigators, on his Telegram channel «Andrei Adarin. Only the Truth, ” he wrote several anti-war posts, including about the Ukrainian cities Bucha and Irpin which were under Russian occupation for several months. The investigators asked the court to place him in pre-trial detention but the request was rejected and instead the court banned Adarin from certain activities. Two months later, in November 2022, Adarin was detained in Moscow. He was given a citation for using narcotics (Article 6.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). Police brought the case to a justice of the peace court, but one of the witnesses listed on the citation document declined to testify against Adarin. After that, the court closed the case. However, Adarin was placed in jail until his hearing on pre-trial restrictions. The next day, the court placed him in a pre-trial detention because he had committed a violation of his ban on certain activities by buying a bus ticket on the internet from Moscow to Minsk. On December 27, the court again imposed pre-trial restrictions prohibiting him from engaging in certain activities. In December, Adarin was charged with public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, he left a comment on the website of the news outlet „Gorny Altai News“, in which he spoke about the decline of the economy as a result of Vladimir Putin’s actions, the intensification of repression and the measures that should be taken in this context. The cases were merged. On July 12, 2023, the court arrested Adarin in absentia and he was put on the wanted list.

Adarin is being represented by an OVD-Info lawyer.

A case of public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) was also opened against Adarin, details are unknown.

Nizhny Novgorod

Vladislav Egorsky, 57.

A criminal case was initiated concerning a link to a video about the events in Bucha, which was posted in April 2022. In October, the Investigative Committee dropped the case in connection with the fact that the post appeared «before the release of the official refutation by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation regarding the events that took place in the cities of Irpen and Bucha of the Republic of Ukraine.»

However, later it became known about a new case against Egorsky under the same article. This time it was about the publications, also made in April 2022: according to the investigation, the defendant «from three different accounts» posted on one of the social networks «under the guise of reliable messages, knowingly false information containing data on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation». On June 30, 2023, Egorsky was sentenced to 10 months of corrective labour.

Alexei Volsky, 20.

Charges against him were triggered by his posts on VKontakte. «A lot of dead local residents and complete devastation. In general, the Russian occupiers and the Russian government as a whole are to blame here. They are committing atrocities, ” he wrote among other things on his page. Volsky has had a group 2 disability since childhood (diagnosed with schizophrenia), but the investigator requested that he be taken into custody. The court has placed him under house arrest. In September 2023, he was also charged with calls for extremist activity (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code), also because of his posts on VKontakte. On October 3 Volsky was released on his own recognisance.

Volsky’s interests are represented by OVD-Info lawyer Kristina Tyurina.

Chukhloma (Kostroma region)

Yan Kulikov, owner of a bookstore in the town of Soligalich, 42.

The case was initiated because of posts on social media platform vk.com on July 16th and 17th, 2022: one referred to the Russian army’s shelling of residential neighborhoods in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region, from a Grad multiple rocket launcher; the other referred to the Russian armed forces' constant shelling of civilian infrastructure and civilians in Vinnytsia, Kremenchuk, Chasiv Yar, Mariupol, Odesa, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv and other cities in February and March 2022. Kulikov is released on an undertaking not to leave. The case is already in the court.

Ulan-Ude

Yevgenia Baltatarova, journalist, 40.

On September 30th, 2022, it was reported that Baltatarova was put on an international wanted list and was detained in Astana. Initially, it was reported that the detention occurred under a case connected to «fake news» about the Russian army (Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), but then the reason changed to that of a false report of a terrorist attack (Part 1, Article 207 of the Criminal Code). Baltatarova was again detained in Almaty on November 2nd, when she was about to fly to Bishkek. This time she was familiarized with the official decrees, from which it followed that two cases of «fake news» under Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code were opened against her. One was initiated in March in connection with a Telegram publication about the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol (apparently, it was a repost of a publication by politician and blogger Maxim Kats). The other took place in June, in connection with an April publication in Telegram about the murder of civilians in Bucha. These cases were merged. The journalist was arrested in absentia. On October 7th, 2022, the Ministry of Justice placed Baltatarova on the register of «foreign agents».

Krasnogvardeyskoye (Adygeya)

Igor Korotkov, 39.

He ran twice as a self-nominated candidate for the Krasnogvardeyskiy District Council of Deputies. The case was opened for a post in WhatsApp with a link to a video «containing false information about the activities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation''. Later, lawyer Irina Babakhanova told „Kavkaz.Realii“ that the reason for initiating the case is a video called „Ukraine: Putin’s defeat“ on the „Navalny LIVE“ channel. According to the investigation, the post was made from a phone in March, 2022. On March 3, 2023, Korotkov was sentenced to a fine of 800 thousand rubles.

Korotkov is being represented by OVD-Info lawyer Felix Vertegel.

Chelyabinsk

Diana Nefedova

According to investigators, on April 4th and 5th, 2022, she published 5 reposts on her personal VKontakte page about killings of civilians in Bucha. Among them is a link to a Meduza publication and an excerpt from a Mediazona article with the statement of the Ministry of Defence which claims the events in Bucha are a provocation and a setup. Nefedova signed an agreement not to leave the city. The court is processing the case.

Kirov

Nikita Fominykh. The case stemmed from publications on VKontakte that included accounts of civilian deaths and urban destruction in Ukraine, in particular events in Kyiv Oblast and missile strikes on a residential building and a kindergarten in Shevchenkivskyi District of Kyiv. In December 2022, the case was taken to court. On January 12th, 2023, Fominykh was sentenced to eight months of corrective labor through wage docking–10% of his wages will be paid to the state.

Magadan

Vitaly Sachivka, 25.

Charged with draft evasion (Part 1, Article 328 of the Criminal Code) as well. No official information about the charge could be found, but according to the VKontakte group «Vежливые. Zлые. СВОи.» («Polite, Evil, Our guys» — the name is a play on words that contains references to the Occupation of Ukraine, the Z symbol and the Special Military Operation.), a post about Sachivka’s prosecution, which stated that he had not appeared at the military recruiting office when summoned, «disagreed with the letter Z», reposted from blog channels of people who used to live or were living in Ukraine, as well as a post about the rocket attack on the Kramatorsk railway station and a post mentioning civilian deaths, rape and looting. On February 8, 2023, Sachivka was sentenced to six months' compulsory labour. On April 5, the Court of Appeal overturned the verdict on the grounds that the first instance court had violated the rules for combining sentences under the two articles.

Samara

Sergey Karnovsky

The reason for initiating the case are three publications in VKontakte, their content in unknown. A case of public justification of terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) has also been opened against him, its essence is unknown. On March 10, 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of 800 thousand rubles.

Sergey Podsytnik, an editor of the online media outlet «Protocol. Samara».

The Lieutenant Colonel of Justice informed the journalist’s father on the phone about a criminal case initiation. Both Podsytnik’s parents were called in for questioning. According to the online media outlet, a reason for the persecution could be the investigation of the shelling of a college building in Makiivka, Donetsk region. «Samara against the War'' and „Protocol. Samara'' jointly pursued the investigation. Podsytnik has been out of Russia for a year and a half. He was put on the wanted list and arrested in absentia.

Moscow

Anastasia Bryukhanova, a former Moscow municipal deputy, 29.

Her case was initiated because of a video she posted on December 23, 2022, on YouTube — apparently about the crimes in Bucha. Bryukhanova is outside Russia. She was put on the wanted list. On July 21, 2023, Bryukhanova was arrested in absentia.

Anastasia Ageeva, 25.

Ageeva participated in anti-war protests in February and April 2022. In addition, Ageeva and two other women were detained in Red Square on April 29th, 2022, even though they weren’t protesting. Later, Ageeva and one of the other detained women were arrested for 15 days for disorderly conduct (Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). A criminal case was initiated against Ageeva because of two posts on social media. The first post, published under the name Gertrude Gate, appeared on the social network VKontakte from April The second post appeared on Instagram in September of the same year — it was posted by a user with the pseudonym «birdintheoceans.» In late June 2022, it became known that Ageeva had left Russia. She was put on a wanted list and arrested in absentia, but the court of appeal later overturned these rulings.

Kaspiysk (Dagestan)

Saniyat Alikhanova, 27.

According to the investigation, in March 2022 she posted a comment on one of her socials where she spread disinformation about the Russian army. It later emerged that the case was triggered by two comments in the Telegram chat room «Fan Club of Chernovik Readers». Commenting on the statements of the Russian Defence Ministry, Alikhanova wrote: «Well, how can you trust those who have hidden so many casualties among their soldiers and silenced their relatives, who only publish things in their favour, who openly and brazenly make up stories! Is it possible to build a strong state on lies and on the bones of other people’s children?», and also: «And the cluster bombs and calibres you are throwing at people, schools and theatres? Are they authorised? Or did the Ukrainian forces put the markings on them themselves? It is so disgusting to see these lies when you know the details of the truth. I didn’t think they were so cynical, where the hell are you going, Mother Russia?» On July 11, 2023, Alikhanova was sentenced to a fine of 150,000 rubles.

Makhachkala

Svetlana Anokhina, feminist, founder of human rights group «Marem», 60.

The case was presumably opened in relation to her April 2022 Instagram posts. Anokhina left Russia in 2021. On April 12, 2022 the police came to her 93-year old mother’s place of residence in relation to certain anti-war posts. On August 14, 2023, Anokhina’s home was searched.

Rostov-on-Don

Maxim Rachkov, head of the Laboratory of Electromagnetic Methods for the Production of New Materials at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, 33.

The case was opened in connection with a post on VKontakte containing a video depicting the Russian military violently dispersing a peaceful Ukrainian demonstration. According to the forensic examination by the Rostov Centre for Forensic Examinations, Rachkov’s post contained a statement about the fact that the Russian military fired on demonstrators, and the phrase «[they] behave like Nazi fascists» not only discredited the Russian army, but also created a negative image of military personnel and «indirectly of the Russian President — V. V. Putin». At the beginning of the war, Rachkov left Russia but he later returned. Rachkov’s friend said that the case was initiated after his return, on April 27th, 2022. The police surveilled Rachkov and after that, on July 21st, his and his relatives’ apartments were searched. Rachkov was detained and placed in custody. According to official records, the case was opened on July 11th. Initially, Rachkov was charged with spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces with a motive of political hatred (Paragraph «e», Section 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), but after three forensic linguistic examinations, the charge was reclassified to Section 1 of the Article. Rachkov was also accused of drug possession without intent to sell (Section 1, Article 228 of the Criminal Code): the drugs were allegedly found during a search. On April 6th, 2023, Rachkov was sentenced to one and a half years in a penal colony. Given the time spent in custody, Rachkov was soon released.

Khabarovsk

Andrey Shevchuk

According to investigators, he disseminated false information in some telegram channel (Telegram is a popular messenger in Russia) about servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces from the Primorsky Territory captured during a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine.» On January 31, 2023, the court dismissed the case, obliging Shevchuk to pay a court fine of 30,000 rubles (US$ 370). The court considered that Shevchuk refuted the «false information» spread by him in the Telegram channel, published in this channel «a series of patriotic posts dedicated to the exploits of the servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the participation in a special military operation», and donated 15,000 rubles (US$ 185) to an orphanage. The prosecutor appealed the ruling, saying that because of Shevchuk’s actions, the «reputation and prestige» of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was damaged. However, on May 23, the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling.

Goryachy Klyuch (Krasnodar Krai)

Lev Petrov

Details unknown. The case had been sent to court, but on March 7th, 2023 the proceedings were suspended. The court’s website stated the reason as «mental disorder or other severe illness, preventing the defendant’s appearance.» In April 2022, Petrov had been fined under the article of the Code of Administrative Offences pertaining to discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 part 1). At that time, he had left a comment on Vkontakte (VK) social network under the video titled «Russian occupants continue to erase Mariupol from the face of the Earth.»

Saint Petersburg

Nikolay Veprikov, programmer, 42.

According to the investigation, between March and June 2022 Nikolay published several posts on VKontakte and reposted several YouTube videos about the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Among other things, the publications talk about the deaths of civilians and military troops, destroyed cities, and criminal charges for anti-war positions. Veprikov was arrested in the morning of June 23, 2023 after a house search, and on the next day the court sent him into custody. On July 27, the court ruled the release of Veprikov with an undertaking not to leave. The following day Veprikov left the detention center. On September 23, Veprikov was arrested in absentia: according to the investigation, he had left for Georgia. He was placed on a wanted list. Veprikov was initially charged under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, but the charge was changed to spreading deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for reasons of political hatred (Paragraph «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

OVD-Info’s attorney Igor Skachko represents Veprikov’s interests in court.

Tselinnoe village (Kurgan Oblast)

Alexey Filyugin, a resident of the Ust'-Uiskoe village, 33.

He is also facing criminal charges for discrediting the Russian military (part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), with no details available. He has been taken into custody. In their motion to choose such a measure of restraint, the investigators indicated that Filyugin lived in an area bordering Kazakhstan where he is originally from, and according to operative information, had an intention to flee there. In June 2022 Filyugin was fined 30 thousand rubles (app. $330) under the administrative article on discrediting the Russian military (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for a series of posts and comments on his VKontakte page condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On September 28, 2023, Filyugin was sentenced in a criminal case to one and a half years of compulsory labour.

Saratov

Unknown

According to the investigation, he posted «deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation» on his Twitter page on March 4, 2022.

Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk region)

Natalia Guseva, former coordinator of the Golos (Voice) movement, 66.

For 16 years she was the head of the women’s NGO «Civic Initiative», whose main target group was children. She was the head of the regional NGO «Centre for Social Partnership», a deputy of the Zlatoust City Assembly, and from 2010 to 2012 she was the public assistant to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Chelyabinsk Oblast. In May 2023, she was fined under an administrative article on discrediting the armed forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). Shortly afterwards, Guseva was attacked in the street. She believes it was related to her activism. Only one of the attackers was charged with an administrative case of battery. A criminal case on «fakes» was initiated for her posts on Odnoklassniki about the military operations in Mariupol and Kharkiv. On August 17, 2023, Guseva’s apartment, as well as that of a local activist and co-organizer of the «TyNeOdin74» («You Are Not Alone 74») project Ildar Baymuratov, was searched as part of the case. Guseva’s son has a group 3 disability and has had part of his leg amputated.

Guseva’s interests are being represented by OVD-Info lawyer Oleg Stepanov.

Village Khebda (Dagestan)

Shamil Magdiyev, resident of Tidib village, 41.

A video titled «To imams and preachers of fraternal people from the Caucasus, Tatarstan, and Bashkostostan» which he allegedly posted on his VKontakte (the Russian equivalent to Facebook) was the reason the case was initiated. In the video, Aider Rustemov, the mufti of Crimean Muslims, addressed Muslims in Russia calling on them to oppose the war and the government. According to Ostorozhno, Novosti (an independent media outlet), Magdiyev is undergoing compulsory treatment in a neuropsychiatric hospital. He was sent there after being charged in another criminal case for illegally purchasing and possessing a weapon (Article 222 of the Criminal Code). On July 27, 2023, the court ordered that he be sent to compulsory treatment in the «fakes» case.

Karasuk (Novosibirsk Oblast)

Stepan Yefremenko

Details are unknown, sentencing took place on August 31, 2023.

Dzerzhinsk (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

Pavel Bashkurov

Details are unknown, the sentence was passed on 21 April, 2023.

Elektrostal (Moscow Oblast)

An unknown person

The case was also initiated under the articles about threat of violence and violent actions in the connection with the administration of justice or of the preliminary investigation (Part 1, Article 296 of the Criminal Code) and about an attempted fraud (Part 2, Article 159 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). On September 13, 2023, the court ordered that the defendant in the case be sent for compulsory treatment

 

Ryazan

Vladislav Mokrousov, 26.

For more details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Alushta

Alexander Tarapon, 32.

According to investigators, he hung a picture of his relative, a Rosgvardiya employee who had participated in the war, on the gate of the relative’s house. On the picture, which was taken from the relative’s Instagram profile, Tarapon wrote that his relative was guilty of murdering children. On October 21st, 2022, Tarapon was sentenced to 2.5 years in a maximum security prison. Attorney Rifat Yakhin links the severity of the sentence with the fact that Tarapon has a previous conviction that is still on his record.

Simferopol

Viktoria Samko, ex-employee at Krym 24 TV channel, 26.

On August 4th, she became a subject to a search concerning a post in a VK group that was published in March and dedicated to the war. According to the security forces, the TV channel employees testified that Samko, who resigned from the TV channel in January, made that post. She was under surveillance since March.

 

Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code: Dissemination of fake information on the armed forces of the Russian Federation relating to official position, by a group of persons, motivated by hate, etc.

Public dissemination of deliberately false information containing data on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the purposes of defending the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, supporting international peace and security, as well as data on the exercising by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for the indicated purposes, and information relating to their official position, by groups of persons, with the artificial creation of accusatory evidence, for personal gain, motivated by hate. Possible punishment — up to ten years imprisonment. Included in the criminal code in March 2022, the provision on the activities of government agencies abroad was added in April, and the provision on volunteer formations and assistance to the Armed Forces was added in March 2023.

Moscow

Veronika Belotserkovskaya, blogger.

According to the version of events published on her Instagram page, there are entries which, allegedly, knowingly contained false information about the actions of the Russian army: its «destruction of towns and of Ukrainian citizens, including children, during the course of the special military operation on Ukrainian territory.» A case was filed regarding Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (motivated by hatred). According to the Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee, Belotserkovskaya is overseas. She has been put on an international wanted list and arrested in absentia. Later, the court seized her property. On July 22nd, 2022, the Ministry of Justice placed her on the «foreign agent» list. Interpol declined the Russian request to extradite Belotserkovskaya. On February 6th, 2023, she was sentenced in absentia to nine years of imprisonment. On March 28, the seizure of the property was lifted.

Alexander Nevzorov, journalist, 64.

According to the version of events he published on the 9th of March on his Instagram account, and on the 19th of March, 2022, on his Youtube channel, he posted «knowingly false information about the intentional shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol by the Russian armed forces of the Russian Federation» accompanied by «unverified photographs of the civilian victims of the shelling» from a Ukrainian media source. The case was filed under Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code. The Main Investigative Directorate is currently searching for his whereabouts. He has been put on a wanted list and arrested in absentia. The court placed a freeze on his summer home near Saint Petersburg as a precautionary measure. In addition, the Ministry of Justice has placed Nevzorov on the list of media «foreign agents». Interpol declined the Russian request to extradite Nevzorov. On February 1, he was convicted in absentia to 8 years imprisonment.

Sergey Klokov (Samiel Vedel), reserve control point technician at the capital’s main Ministry of Internal Affairs directorate, 38.

The case was filed under Paragraphs «A», «B» and «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (information relating to one’s official position, a group of persons, motivated by hatred), but the details of the case remain unknown. Arrested overnight between March 16th and 17th, 2022. After a search a bag was put on Klokov’s head and he was taken to the Head Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee, where the apprehension was documented. The report reads that Klokov resisted and that physical force as well as means of restraint were used against him. He was placed in a pre-trial detention center on the 18th of March. According to lawyer Daniil Berman, the prosecution’s ruling of the case states that Klokov disseminated false information during a telephone conversation, not publicly. Later it became known that, according to case materials, Klokov told his colleagues and friends over the phone that Russia has evacuated wounded military men to Belarus and understates the numbers of casualties. He also is claimed to have stated that Russian military men killed civilians and that Ukraine is, in fact, not «run by Nazis.» Additionally, he was allegedly planning to organize a phone conversation between his Russian colleagues and an acquaintance from Kyiv. Security forces informed Berman that Klokov declined the lawyer’s services. However, later Klokov signed an agreement with Berman. It was only in June that it emerged that the wiretapping of Klokov’s telephone conversations, which had triggered the case, had been authorised by Denis Ignatyev, a judge of the Moscow Regional Court, on January 28, 2022. This was allegedly linked to the murder of police officers almost 20 years ago and the fact that Klokov’s father worked with their alleged killer, Vladislav Stepanov. The investigation considered the phone conversations to be public because there were several of them. On August 10, the court sent the case back to the prosecutor’s office, but later the case returned to the court. On April 24, 2023, Klokov was sentenced to seven years in a general regime penal colony.

Alberto Enrique Giraldo Saray, Salazar Ramirez and Mendoza Briceño

Giraldo Saray is a citizen of Colombia, who has been living in Russia since the 2000s; the citizenship of the other defendants is not mentioned. Giraldo Saray is accused of disseminating, as part of a group, knowingly false information about the actions of the Russian armed forces (Paragraph «B», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, According to investigators, «he conspired with persons that managed his actions from abroad to provide technical support and secretly install mobile devices in one of Moscow’s malls.» These devices facilitated «the remotely controlled mass mailing by unidentified persons of knowingly false information concerning the actions of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, including the information about murders of civilians, to Russian mobile communications subscribers, » «as well as information about replenishing troop numbers with reservists, conscripts, foreign fighters and schoolchildren.» Giraldo Saray is being held in a pre-trial detention center. Investigators believe that Venezuelan nationals Briceño and Ramirez were transferring money and cryptocurrency to Saray. Briceño was also relaying orders to and receiving reports from him. The case of Giraldo Saray is already in the court. Briceño and Ramirez have been put on the wanted list. On May 16, 2023, Giraldo Saray was sentenced to five years and two months in prison. On May 17, the Venezuelans were arrested in absentia.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, politician, 42.

The case has been brought forward under Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the criminal code (motivated by hatred). According to investigators, on March 15th, 2022, «in a public speech in front of the members of Arizona House of Representatives, motivated by political hatred, Kara-Murza disseminated knowingly false information under the guise of credible information, which consisted information about the use of objects of social infrastructure by the Russian armed forces when bombing residential areas, including maternity hospitals, hospitals and schools, as well as the use of prohibited weapons and methods of warfare during the special military operation in Ukraine. Through this, he caused a significant damage to the interests of the Russian Federation.» He is in custody. On the same day, Kara Murza was placed on the «foreign agent» list. Previously, he had been given a 15 days arrest charged with disobedience to the lawful order of a police officer (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). On July 13th, 2022, another criminal case was opened against Kara-Murza for participating in activities of an «undesirable organization». This case was not connected with his anti-war position, instead it was in relation to a conference he had hosted in October 2021 in support of Russian political prisoners, allegedly funded by the Free Russia Foundation. However, the case was combined with his case on «fakes.»

On October 6, 2022, a criminal case was opened against Kara-Murza for treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). He was indicted the same day. It later emerged that the politician was charged for a speech he gave in Lisbon on October 8, 2021, about the illegitimacy of electoral campaigns in Russia, including the upcoming presidential election in 2024; a speech he gave in Oslo on October 29, the same year, at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s award ceremony for historian Yuri Dmitriev about state terror in Russia and politically motivated killings; and a speech he gave at a hearing of the U.S. Helsinki Commission on March 29, 2022, about the «information iron curtain» in Russia and the need for citizens to have access to the truth about the war in Ukraine. The case is awaiting trial. Judge Sergei Podoprigorov of the Second Western District Military Court, who is hearing the Kara-Murza case, was previously on the «Magnitsky List», which the politician worked on and lobbied for the adoption of the relevant law in the US. While in solitary confinement, the politician began to lose sensitivity in his limbs. On March 16, 2023, the medical staff of the pre-trial detention centre prevented Kara-Murza from attending the trial until the end of his treatment. On April 17, he was sentenced to 25 years in a strict regime penal colony. In June, it became known that Kara-Murza had stopped receiving some of the letters. On June 25, Alexei Melnikov, secretary of the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission, said that the letters had been handed over to Kara-Murza. Immediately after his transfer to the colony in September, the politician was placed in a pre-trial detention centre. The officers told him that he would not be released to the camp because he «would infect all prisoners with his views».

Elena Kotenochkina, the head of the Krasnoselsky municipal district, 45, and Alexey Gorinov, a deputy of Krasnoselsky municipal district, 61.

The case is filed under Paragraphs «A», «B», and «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (pertaining to the use of one’s official position, of conspiracy and motivations of hatred). According to investigators, on a March 15th, 2022, meeting of the Deputy Council, Kotenochkina and Gorinov disseminated knowingly false information «about aggressive military actions conducted by the Russian Federation in the territory of an independent state, calling these actions „a war“ and not „a special military operation, ” about the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army „with the intentions to conquer its territory, destroy its independence, and change its political and social regimes, ” about the daily killing of children in the war with Ukraine, as well as calling the Russian Federation’s actions in Ukraine, „as the element of the state power, the actions of a fascist state.“ In addition, prior to March 16th, Kotenochkina recorded a video „about a large number of Russian conscription officers sent to war zones in the territory of Ukraine.“ Gorinov has been detained and is being held in a pre-trial detention center. Kotenochkina had left Russia. She was put on an international wanted list and arrested in absentia. On May 5th, the court limited the time for Gorinov’s familiarization with the case until May 6th. It has to be considered that Gorinov was allowed to start familiarizing himself with the case only on May 4th and on May 5th he spent more than half a day in court. The Moscow Helsinki Group reported that at the pre-trial detention center he is kept in inhumane conditions. There are 7 more people in the same cell with Gorinov even though the cell is designed for four people. He has also had to sleep on the concrete floor. On July 8th, 2022, Gorinov was sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony. In September, it became known that the appeal hearing would be closed to the public. Later, the court’s presiding officer announced that the decision had been made in the interests of safety, since the judge who originally sentenced him in the Meshchansky court in Moscow had received threats. On September 19th, the appeals court reduced Gorinov’s sentence by one month, changing the charge from dissemination of information by conspiracy to dissemination by a group of persons. In December information emerged that Gorinov was being denied medical treatment in prison. After the story became public, Gorinov was transferred to the hospital of a neighboring prison facility. On June 29, 2023, Gorinov said in a letter that he was woken up every two hours at night in the pre-trial detention centre to check whether he had escaped.

Kotenochkina’s case is already in court.

In October, Gorinov was placed in a pre-trial detention centre: it emerged that a new case had been opened against him — for publicly justifying terrorism (Part 1, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code).

Kotenochkina’s interests are represented by Tatiana Solomina, a lawyer from OVD-Info.

Ruslan Leviev (Karpuk), 36 and Michael Nacke, 29, journalists.

Since February 24th, 2022, they have posted daily news reports about the ongoing war. Leviev is a founder of Conflict Intelligence Team, a platform dedicated to study and analysis of military conflicts. The case is filed under Paragraph «C», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (the public dissemination of false information about the actions of the Russian armed forces under the guise of credible information with the artificial creation of accusatory evidence). According to investigators, in the video «The war. Results of day 90, » Leviev and Nacke skeptical addressed the Defence Ministry position that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was shelled by the Ukrainian forces. The video also included fragments that meant to show that the Russian army is destroying cities and killing civilians. Leviev and Nacke are currently outside Russia and have been placed on a wanted list. They are both arrested in absentia and their property has been seized. On September 9th, 2022, the Ministry of Justice placed Nacke on the «foreign agent» list. On November 18th, Leviev was placed on the same list. The case is already in the court.

In February 2023, it became known that another case had been opened against Leviev for spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces — this time on political grounds (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The reason for the prosecution was a stream on March 9, 2022, on the YouTube channel «Popular Politics», in which Leviyev spoke about a Russian airstrike on a hospital in Mariupol. A second criminal case, also concerning «fakes» about the armed forces motivated by political hatred, was brought against Nacke in connection with the video «Special airing | Preparing to storm Kiev | Mariupol Drama Theatre» dated March 16, 2022. Later, all the cases were consolidated. In the final indictment, the Prosecutor’s Office also included paragraph «b» of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (dissemination of «fakes» by a group of persons). On August 29, 2023, Leviev and Nacke were sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison.

Oleg Kashintsev, a former police officer from Yaroslavl, 42.

The charge was brought forward on March 9th, 2022. The case was launched in connection to two posts made in March: one of them contained a video with a Russian pilot shot in Ukraine, another one depicted a collage made of photos of Putin and Hitler with a red equation sign and a critical message about the war in Ukraine and the actions of the Russian President. On May 12th, the court issued a decision about an arrest in absentia. Kashintsev is outside Russia and put on a wanted list. Interpol declined the Russian request to extradite Kashintsev. On January 27, 2023, he was convicted in absentia to 8 years in prison and was stripped of his rank.

Dmitry Ivanov, activist and author of the Telegram channel «Protest MGU, » 24.

On June 2nd, 2022, he was detained. On that day, searches were conducted at at least four addresses: those of Moscow activists and journalists as well as Ivanov’s parents. The activist himself was serving a 25-day administrative arrest sentence under Part 8, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences for repeat violation of regulations on rallies (the sentence was scheduled to finish at 6:30 pm on June 2nd). He was charged with the distribution of deliberately inaccurate information concerning the activities of the armed forces with motives of hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and was kept in custody pending trial. On June 3rd the court ruled to take Ivanov to a pre-trial detention center. The reason for the launch of the case were publications about Russian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the shelling of a hospital in Mariupol, dispersal of a public gathering in Kherson, the losses of Russian aircraft in the war, the crimes in Bucha and Irpen, a repost of one of Zelensky’s speeches to the citizens of Donbas, and a post in which the «special operation» was called a war. The court is processing the case. After a court hearing in January 2023, one of the escorting officers beat Ivanov. Letters from Ivanov from the pre-trial detention centre do not reach their addressees due to censorship. On March 7, Ivanov was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The Investigative Committee did not open a criminal case in connection with the beating.

Ivanov is defended by OVD-Info attorney Maria Eismont.

Dmitry Glukhovsky, writer, 43.

The case was initiated on the basis of the Instagram post, under paragraphs «c» (artificial creation of evidence) and «e» (hate motive) of Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code. He says that his accusation of the President of the Russian Federation of starting an aggressive war serves as an aggravating circumstance in the case. Glukhovsky has left Russia, he is currently wanted and has been arrested in absentia. On October 7th, 2022, the Ministry of Justice placed him on the «media foreign agents» list. The case is already in the court.

IIyas Belkharoev, 35.

According to investigators, «while in Ukraine, he joined the ranks of the Ukrainian nationalists and, under the guise of credible information, spread publicly available statements online that formed a knowingly false perception about the so-called illegal activities of the Russian armed forces and the government of the Russian Federation regarding the conduct of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, which discredited its actual mission.»

Belharoev is also suspected in organizing the assasination of Ibrahim Eldzharkiev, the head of the Counter-Extremism Center in Ingushetia, as well as his brother Abdulahmed in Moscow. In 2020, he was put on an international wanted list in connection to this case and arrested in absentia. Investigators believe he is a member of the «combat wing» of the religious «Batalkhadzhin» brotherhood.

Ilya Yashin, opposition politician, ex-head of Council of Deputies of the Krasnoselsky Moscow Municipal District, 40.

The news concerning the launch of this case became known on July 12th, on the final day of Yashin’s arrest connected to administrative charges of disobedience to police officers. The criminal case addresses Yashin’s YouTube stream where he talks about the killings of civilians in Bucha. On July 13th, 2022, the court ruled to place Yashin in custody. On July 22nd, the Ministry of Justice placed Yashin on the «foreign agents» list. His bank accounts were frozen. On December 9th, he was sentenced to 8.5 years imprisonment in a penal colony.

Maria Ovsyannikova, former editor of Channel 1, 44.

On March 14th, 2022, she held up a poster «Stop the war» on air during the evening news broadcast. A day before that she had posted a video encouraging people to protest against the war. Immediately after her on-air protest, Ovsyannikova was detained and not allowed to contact anyone. The following day the court fined her for the video but returned the case about the on-air protest to the police. Ovsyannikova resigned from Channel 1 and left Russia but then returned. In July, she was detained again and fined because of her outburst in a court hearing on July 13th where Moscow politician Ilya Yashin was placed into pre-trial detention. At the end of July, the journalist reported that she was being surveilled. In August, she received another fine for anti-war posts on Facebook. On August 10th, she was detained after being searched. On the same day she was charged with spreading «fakes» about the Russian army motivated by political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case was related to her solo protest on July 15th on Sofiyskaya embankment where she stood with a poster reading: «Putin is a killer. His soldiers are fascists. 352 children are dead. How many more children have to die to make you stop?» On August 11th, Ovsyannikova was placed under house arrest. She had previously faced multiple administrative charges for her anti-war protest. On October 3rd, Ovsyannikova was put on the wanted list after she left Russia. Prior to that, her ex-husband said that she had escaped from house arrest with their daughter. The court declined to change her pre-trial detention measures. Later, Ovsyannikova’s parental rights were restricted: the court declared that her daughter had to live with her ex-husband. On October 20th, Ovsyannikova was arrested in absentia. On October 4, 2023, the court sentenced her in absentia to eight and a half years' imprisonment.

She is defended by OVD-Info attorney Dmitry Zahvatov.

Ilya Ponomarev, former Duma deputy, 47.

Fled Russia. Arrested in absentia on August 30th, 2022. He is charged with spreading knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces motivated by political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case is based on material he put on the YouTube channel «Forum for Free Russia» from March 5th and 17th, 2022, a video about the killing of civilians near Kiev and in Mariupol, the bombing of the Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Station by the Russian Army, their interference with the humanitarian corridor, and situations of looting by Russian soldiers. In connection with the case, searches were conducted in Ekaterinburg, Rostov on Don, Tyumen, Moscow, Krasnodar, and the Orel and Moscow regions on September 8, 2022. At least 4 people had their bank accounts frozen. On August 22nd, Ponomarev announced that the so-called National Republican Army had taken responsibility for the assasination of journalist Daria Dugina. On October 8th, Ponomarev was again put on the wanted list. On October 26th, Ponomarev was placed on the «foreign agent» list. On May 18, 2023, another series of searches took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg, also of people who did not know Ponomarev. By this time it had become known that the case also involved an article on the public justification of terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code), the details are unknown. Ponomarev earlier announced that he knew the perpetrators of the murders of propagandists in Russia. A new series of searches took place in Moscow on June 13.

In addition, on September 8th, 2022, a search was conducted of the supposed moderators of the Telegram channel of «Free Russia» which is associated with Ponomarev.

Ponomarev reported that in total, four criminal cases had been opened against him. Further details are unknown.

In September 2023, it was reported that a case had been opened against Ponomarev for the activities of an «undesirable organisation» (Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code).

Lyudmila Tolmacheva

Arrested in absentia, though earlier reports said that she was in pre-trial detention. The court decision stated that the case was opened on August 9 and on August 25, 2022, Tolmacheva was placed on the federal wanted list. On October 5, she was convicted in absentia and placed on the international wanted list, and on October 7, she was arrested in absentia. Further details about the case are unknown.

Vladimir Osechkin, human rights activist and founder of project Gulagu.net, 41.

The reason for prosecution was a March 2022 publication on the Gulagu YouTube channel. The details are currently unknown. Osechkin is located outside of Russia. In January 2023, he was placed on the «foreign agent» list.

In 2020, a court in Moscow arrested Osechkin in absentia concerning a case of fraud committed by a group of persons or causing significant damage. The human rights activist is on a wanted list.

Yelena Filina, 46, former deputy of Moscow’s Prospekt Vernadskogo municipality.

The case was opened under the article concerning the public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian armed forces, abusing one’s official position (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) for a post on Facebook, including about the events in Bucha. Filina left Russia, was put on a wanted list and was arrested in absentia.

Mikhail Simonov, director of a dining car, lived in Belarus, 63.

The case was opened in relation to the article on publically disseminating deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the grounds of political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, on March 19 and 20, 2022, he posted two comments on VKontakte about the bombing of Kiev and Mariupol which were done with a dismissive, unfriendly and aggressively hostile attitude towards state authorities, and showed disapproval of their actions to stabilize the socio-political situation on Ukrainian territory. Human rights activist Pavel Chikov said that this was not the first attempt to open a case against Simonov. The first time, the Investigation Committee declined to open the case, a decision which was later overturned. Simonov has been placed in custody. On March 30, 2023, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Pyotr Verzilov, publisher of Mediazona, Pussy Riot member, 35.

Information about the criminal case first appeared in early December 2022, but without official confirmation. Verzilov has been placed on the wanted list. Earlier he had been placed on the wanted list for not reporting his foreign citizenship. On December 13, police came to search Verzilov’s mother’s home, and on December 16, they searched the home of Pussy Riot member Rita Flores. Lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov reported that the latter search was conducted in connection with a case on «fakes» about the army. On January 26, 2023, Verzilov was indicted for disseminating «fakes» about the army motivated by political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The basis for opening the case was two tweets and two posts on Verzilov’s Instagram account about what happened in Bucha. He was arrested in absentia in March 2023. The case is already in court.

Andrey Soldatov, editor-in-chief of Agentura.Ru, 46.

The grounds for this case were a video with his participation on the YouTube channel «Popular Politics», entitled «FSB Generals Arrested Because of the War». The case was opened on March 17, 2022. «The investigation deemed as false information claims that Rosgvardia units were taking part in combat operations in Ukraine, while they were not capable of fighting on a par with the Armed Forces, » Network Freedoms wrote. The investigators also checked Soldatov under articles on defamation (Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code), calls for extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and incitement to hatred (Part 1, Article 282 of the Criminal Code), but did not charge him with these crimes. Soldatov was put on the wanted list and his property was seized. Interpol refused to comply with Russia’s extradition request. In February 2023, it became known that the Prosecutor’s Office had not referred the case to court and had sent it back for further investigation.

Lyusya Shtein, former municipal deputy, 26.

According to unconfirmed reports, the case was opened based on her tweets on March 27, 2022. On that day, she participated in the discussion of a video that had appeared on the Internet, where the Ukrainian military allegedly shot Russian prisoners in the leg. In May, it was reported that the Investigative Committee was verifying the activist’s tweets.

In 2021, Shtein was sentenced to a year of restricted freedom under the «sanitation case.» In that case, Stein was found guilty of violating sanitary and epidemiological rules (Part 1 of Article 236 of the Criminal Code of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, with application of Part 4 of Article 33 of the Criminal Code) because of her calls to attend a rally on January 23, 2021 in support of Alexei Navalny. In April 2022 Shtein left Russia, and in May she was put on the wanted list. On June 30, her penalty was increased, replacing the remainder of her sentence with a month in prison.

Maxim Lypkan, activist, 18.

He submitted an application to hold a rally called «Year of Hell» on February 24, 2023. The Moscow authorities refused to coordinate the holding of the rally, citing the epidemiological situation. Lypkan tried to challenge the refusal in court, but his lawsuit was dismissed. The reason for the persecution was an interview Lypkan gave to Radio Liberty about the war and anti-war protests. The activist was detained after a search on February 21, 2023. A search was also conducted at his father’s home. The lawyer Kachmazov was not allowed into the apartment when the search was carried out. When the lawyer arrived at Lypkan’s house, four men in plain clothes met him in the stairwell. They began to talk rudely and put pressure on him; the unidentified men also offered that the lawyer «let’s go outside and talk.» The next day, Lypkan was taken to custody. The case was opened on the basis of Lypkan’s Telegram posts: in one he approved of Alexander Nizamov's performance with hanging Vladimir Putin’s portrait behind bars on the Troitskaya Tower in the Kremlin, in another he commented on the sentence of Alexey Gorinov, a municipal deputy from the Krasnoselsky district, and in a third he wrote about the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol by Russian troops. The case materials also include a publication calling for a rally on February 24 and a link to an interview Lypkan gave to Radio Liberty in which he talked about the war and protests. In pre-trial detention, the young man was abused by his cellmates: according to his lawyer, they shaved his head into a mohawk. After the story became public, they were moved to another cell.

Lawyer Alan Kachmazov from OVD-Info is representing the interests of Maxim Lypkan.

Ilya Krasilshchik, media manager, blogger, 35.

According to investigators, he published a post on Instagram about the bout the killings by Russian military personnel in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast. Krasilshchik is also charged with an interview on the Shepelin YouTube channel, dated April 14, 2022, in which he spoke about the destruction of Ukrainian cities and civilian deaths, including in Bucha. Earlier, there was information about a launched case in connection to spreading «knowingly false» information about the murders in Bucha. However, it was not stated who the suspects were. The representatives of the Russian officials accuse Armed Forces of Ukraine of the crimes committed in Bucha. Krasilshchik has left Russia and has been placed on a wanted list. His bank accounts have been frozen. Initially, it was reported that the case had been opened under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, but it later became known that Krasilshchik had been charged in absentia with spreading false information about the Armed Forces with a motive of hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On March 16, 2023, the court arrested Krasilshchik in absentia. On June 29, he was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison.

Maxim Kats, politician, blogger, 37.

According to the investigation, he posted a video on his YouTube channel about the killing of civilians in occupied Bucha. He has left Russia and has been put on the wanted list. In July 2022, Kats was placed on the «foreign agent» register for individuals. The case was opened on April 7, 2022, under part 1 of the article on " fakes», but the part was later changed, and on February 20, 2023, Kats was charged in absentia under Paragraph «E», Part 2 (public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for reasons of political hatred). He was arrested in absentia on March 23. On August 24, 2023, Katz was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison.

Viktor Moskalev, Deputy Head of the Science and Technology Center of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 50.

A case on dissemination of deliberately false information about the armed forces motivated by political hatred (Clause «d» Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) against him was initiated based on two comments published on the website e-xecutive.ru on April 9, 2022. The first comment stated that Russian troops have razed the city of Mariupol to the ground, heavily shelled Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv, and blatantly harmed civilians. The second comment, among other things, mentions that Russian soldiers stole TVs and graphics cards, raped and killed Unkrainian girls. Moskalev was taken into custody. On June 16, the court began considering the merits of the case and transferred Moskalev to a psychiatric hospital after declaring him mentally incompetent.

Moskalev’s interests are represented by Yulia Tregubova and Mikhail Biryukov, lawyers at OVD-info.

Abbas Gallyamov, political expert, 50.

A case on dissemination of deliberately false information about the armed forces motivated by political hatred (Clause «d» Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) against him was initiated because of an interview with Ukrainian journalists for the YouTube channel «Groshy» (a special project of the TV channel «1 plus 1»). During the interview he spoke about the events that took place in Ukrainian cities of Bucha and Kramatorsk. Gallyamov currently resides outside of Russia. He was put on the wanted list.

Maria Kartasheva, 29.

Left Russia more than three years ago. She learned about the criminal case from her mother, who lives in Vladivostok–investigators phoned her. The case was opened in Moscow and Kartasheva was placed on the wanted list. The case was opened on the grounds of spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces with a motive of political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Kartasheva suggested Kartasheva thinks that her picketing of the Russian Embassy in Canada might have triggered the case. However, it later emerged that the case had been opened because of a post on a Telegram channel about the events in Bucha. She was arrested in absentia on April 24, 2023. The case is already in court.

She is being represented by OVD-Info defence lawyer Tatyana Solomina.

Ruslan Ushakov, administrator of the Telegram channel «Nastoyashee prestuplenie [Real Crime]» writing under the pseudonym «Denis Evsyukov», 30.

The criminal case was initiated on March 16th, 2023. Posts with «indications of the arrestee’s negative attitude to the application of the Russian armed forces» were cited as the reason. By that moment a criminal case about public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Coder) had been initiated against the channel administrator. In connection to this case, Ushakov, presumably, was arrested on December 14th, 2022, and is in custody. Initially it was reported that Ushakov had been charged under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, but it later emerged that he had been charged with spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces with a motive of political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Ushakov is also accused of inciting hatred (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code) and rehabilitating Nazism (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). The posts he is accused of making referred in particular to the shelling of Mariupol and the killing of civilians in Ukraine, and included calls for violence against Vladimir Putin and approval of the murder of a pro-Russian administration official in Kherson. During one of the court hearings, Ushakov revealed that he had been tortured with electric shocks while in custody. On June 29, 2022, he was sentenced to eight years in a general regime penal colony.

Ushakov’s interests are represented by Leysan Mannapova, a lawyer at OVD-Info.

Yuri Kokhovets, 37. He used to work in the printing industry, then in disinfection.

According to unconfirmed reports, the case was initiated following a street poll conducted by Radio Svoboda, asking whether there the tensions between Russia and NATO should be released. During the poll, Mr. Kokhovets said that Russia «bombs shopping centers» and that the military shoot civilians without reason, accordingly, political de-escalation depends on the actions of the Russian government. Kokhovets told the «Vot Tak» media outlet that the authorities did not contact him.

However, on March 25, 2023, he was detained and taken to the Yaroslavsky District Police Station. There he was informed that he had the status of a defendant; as a measure of restriction, Kokhovets was given a personal recognisance. He was held in police custody until noon on March 27. He was released with a fine of 500 rubles for disorderly conduct (Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences): this article provides for administrative arrest and allows the police to detain a person for 48 hours. Initially, Kokhovets was charged under Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, but then the charge was reclassified to spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces with a motive of political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case is already in the court.

Kokhovets’ interests are represented by Elena Sheremetyeva, a lawyer at OVD-Info.

Stanislav Velichko, financial analyst, 43.

According to the official investigation, on March 1, 2022, while in Turkey, he posted a video on the social network VK about the death of a family under Russian army fire, along with 'statements inciting hate and hostility towards a group of individuals based on their attitudes towards military service, information affecting the mind and feelings of VK users, which could cause doubt, unrest, and irritation among the audience and incite hatred and hostility.' It should be noted that these charges were brought against Velichko before Article 207.3 was added to the Criminal Code.

On April 26, Velichko was detained in Moscow. He told OVD-Info that he was beaten and threatened with charges against his wife. On April 28, he was released on personal recognizance. Velichko left Russia and has been declared wanted.

Ivan Vyrypaev, theatre director, playwright, director and actor, multiple awards winner, 48.

In May 2022 he publicly renounced his Russian citizenship and obtained citizenship of Poland, of which he has been a permanent resident since 2014. A case was initiated against him for disseminating false information about the armed forces by a group of persons (Paragraph «b», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). However, it later emerged that Vyrypayev had been charged with spreading 'fakes' with a motive of political hatred (Paragraph «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Specific details of the case remain unknown. On the 27th of April, 2023, Ivan Vyrypaev was apprehended in absentia and subsequently placed on the wanted list. The case is already in the court.

Alexander Rodnyansky, Ukrainian citizen, prominent film producer, director, media manager and president of Kinotavr, an open film festival in the city of Sochi, Russia (held annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine), 61.

He actively spoke out against the war. A case was initiated against Rodnyansky for spreading false information about the Russian army with a motive of political hatred (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The case was triggered by three Instagram posts and one Telegram post about the shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, the killing of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian military, and attacks by the Russian army on civilian targets in Kyiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.On April 27, 2023, Rodnyansky was arrested in absentia and is presumed to be on the wanted list. The case is already in court.

Vladimir Milov, an opposition politician, supporter of Alexei Navalny, and former Deputy Minister of Energy, 51.

He left Russia in 2021. He was criminally charged with spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces on the grounds of political hatred (part 2, paragraph «e» of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) in the summer of 2022. Milov was placed on a wanted list for a video titled «Putin’s Crimes» posted on the Navalny Live channel. On July 13, 2023 the politician was arrested in absentia. The case is already in court.

Yanina Sokolovskaya, Ukrainian journalist who cooperated with the Russian media, 52.

On 26 July 2023, it became known that the Investigative Committee opened a case against Sokolovskaya for hate-motivated dissemination of deliberately false information about the Armed Forces (Item «e» Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, Sokolovskaya spread this information «in the period from March to May 2022 …> in a Telegram channel, where it was openly accessible to an unlimited number of people, under the guise of reliable reports». Sokolovskaya’s Moscow flat was searched. According to the media group RBC, she and her family left Russia for Europe after the start of the war.

Yuri Sipko, pastor, former chairman of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, 71.

According to the investigation, in March 2022, Sipko «posted a video clip on a video hosting site, making it accessible to an unlimited number of people, which, according to a psychological and linguistic study, contains knowingly false information about the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation against the civilian population of Ukraine». A case was initiated against him for dissemination of knowingly false information motivated by hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Sipko has left Russia. His home was searched and his son was questioned as a witness. The Investigative Committee also reports that searches took place at the homes of some of Sipko’s «associates» in Moscow and Kaluga.

Anna Bazhutova (YokoBovich), a Twitch streamer.

The reason for her prosecution was a Twitch stream aired in June 2023, in which, according to the official version, she read the stories of the residents of Bucha, wrote on a cardboard that 300 people in Bucha were killed by Russian soldiers, uttered the phrase «death to the Russian occupiers, ” and, in addition, called for the „killing“ of the „Russian people“ responsible for that. On August 18, 2023, Bazhutova was taken into custody.

Andrey Kurshin, an engineer at RIF Research and Production Association (NPO), which produces software for armaments for the Russian army, 35.

He has a second level of access to classified information. According to «Important Stories», an investigative online media, in 2014 Kurshin fought on the side of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and had a call sign «Moscow.» Later, he took a more moderate stance and created a telegram channel «Moscow Calling», where he analysed the mistakes of both Russian and Ukrainian military commanders. Kurshin’s case is based on two posts published in his Telegram channel in autumn 2022: one was on the topic of a missile attack on a dam at a reservoir near Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, the other to the bombarding of a maternity hospital in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine. The case was initiated under the article on the dissemination of «fake facts» with the motive of hatred (item «d» part 2, art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Kurshin pleaded guilty, but denied the hate motive. He has been placed under house arrest. On October 4, law enforcement officers in Volgograd searched the home of Elena Penchuk, the former administrator of the Moscow Calling channel. The reason was that Kurshin had allegedly been writing messages to her for a month, in violation of the ban on using the Internet. Penchuk said that she had not administered Moscow Calling for a long time. The person who wrote to her from a new account introduced himself as Kurshin and offered to return to work, but she refused.

Konstantin Seleznev, 62.

The case was initiated following two posts on VKontakte: in one of them he copied his own letter to the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation where he talked about the UN report «on the crimes of Russian soldiers in three regions of Ukraine». In the other post he criticised the Russian president for awarding an honorary title to the 53rd anti-aircraft brigade and mentioned that soldiers of another, the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which Putin awarded the title of Guards Brigade, were accused of mass crimes in Bucha. Seleznev was detained on 4 October 2023.

Bogdan Litvin, 29, and Andrey Lozitsky, 21, federal coordinators of the Vesna movement, Vasily Neustroev, a member of the St. Petersburg regional council of the Yabloko party, 27, Yan Ksenzhepolsky, an activist from Tver, 23, Anna Arkhipova, 25, Gleb Kondratiev, 20, Makar Diakonov, 20, Timofei Martynenko, 27, Ekaterina Bushkova, 26, Lev Gyammer, 22, editor-in-chief of Skat media and former coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Krasnodar, Vladislav Sorvenkov, 25, Alexander Kashevarov, 20, former coordinator of the Chelyabinsk branch of the movement, Kira Pushkareva, 26, Anna Nazarova, 20, Mikhail Tukh, 22.

For further details, see the section on Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code.

Kirov

Dmitry Bayev, former deacon of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, 30. On February 25, 2022, he resigned from the Church and soon after left Russia with his family.

The case was initiated under Paragraph «E», Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (concerning motives of hate). The grounds for this charge were posts on VKontakte in which Bayev, according to investigators, wrote that the Ukrainian military «sent 17, 500 orcs to the afterlife» and «Putin’s entourage is afraid to tell him the truth.» As of March 11, Bayev has been banned from serving as a priest by decree of the diocesan bishop. Bayev’s VKontakte page was blocked on March 24 at the request of the Prosecutor General Office. Bayev’s apartment was searched and he was placed on the federal wanted list. In October 2022, he was stripped of his ecclesiastical rank.

Richard Rose, 37 and Maria Rose, 32.

Richard Rose has been arrested and is being held in a pre-trial detention center, while a precautionary measure in the form of a ban on certain actions was imposed on Maria. A charge was brought forward regarding the dissemination of false information about the actions of the Russian armed forces, motivated by political hatred towards the head of state (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, on their personal pages at vk.com, they posted images and videos that contained «knowingly false information concerning the purposes, tasks and methods of the special military operation on the territory of Bucha in Kyiv region.» Richard Rose is under pressure to confess, receiving threats from security officers that Maria could be transferred to a pre-trial detention center, that their son would be taken to an orphanage, that Richard himself would be deemed «untouchable», and that in general his conditions would become unbearable. In addition, the investigator announced that lawyer Inna Kosheleva could no longer defend him. Rose refused to answer any questions about the case or perform procedural actions in the presence of a public attorney after that. On October 5th, 2022, Maria Rose was also charged with calling for extremist activities (Criminal Code Article 280, part 2). According to the official announcement, she posted a video on her VKontakte page titled «List of names of Russian soldiers: Perpetrators of the genocide in Bucha identified, ” and had extremism in her comments as well. On her page, they also found photographs of murdered women in Hostomel, a video titled „Russofascists will pay with their lives for hunting Ukrainians“ and other posts about the war. Richard Rose was also investigated under this article. On October 12, the pre-trial restrictions on Maria Rose were removed. In December it became known that another case had been opened against Rose for public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The reason for the case was the publication on Rose’s Instagram of a video of Ukrainian musician Svyatoslav Vakarchuk calling to stop the war, with the comment: „There is only one way to stop Putler — physically kill him.“ In one of his court hearings, Rose said that during his arrest, officers beat him badly. Later he wrote to a friend that he was being threatened with physical violence in the pre-trial detention facility. He does not receive any letters, and his letters do not make it to their intended recipients. Maria Rose’s case was sent to court, but she has left Russia. In May 2023, it was reported that she was put on the wanted list. She was later detained in Armenia but soon released. On August 30, the court resumed the hearing of the case. Richard Rose was not allowed to call his family. He pleaded guilty at one of the court hearings. In August 2023, it was reported that during the search of his cell, almost all of his books and personal belongings were taken away, he was denied phone calls, letters were handed to him only from two addressees, and his own letters were not sent. On September 22, 2023, Richard Rose was sentenced to eight years in a general regime penal colony. Maria Rose reported that her husband had not received any letters and had been forbidden to make telephone calls, despite the court’s permission.

Prokhor Protasov, musician, composer of the city anthem, 34.

He has fled Russia. His relatives living in Kirov were called in for questioning as witnesses. Protasov believes that one of his colleagues informed on him. The reason for opening the criminal case was posts on VKontakte about events in Bucha and about a rocket attack on the shopping center in Kremenchuk. Protasov is charged with disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian military motivated by hatred (Paragraph D, Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, in his posts he humiliated the human dignity of representatives of such social groups as the Russian Armed Forces and «Rushists» [«Russia» «fascists»] and incited hatred and hostility towards them. The court excluded from the case an episode related to the post about the events in Bucha that was made public before the refutation appeared on the website of the Ministry of Defence and sentenced Protasov in absentia on February 22, 2023, to five years' imprisonment; if Protasov is found in Russia, he will have to serve his sentence in a general regime penal colony. On April 12, the Court of Appeal overturned the verdict and sent the case back for reconsideration. On June 29, however, Protasov was again sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

Kirov region (town unknown)

Andrey E., 54.

The case was initiated following reposts on the social network Odnoklassniki, of news broadcasts and media publications about Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including those at Bucha. A case was initiated on publicly spreading ‘knowingly false information’ about the army by a group of individuals (Paragraph «B», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

Penza

Irina Gen, a teacher.

According to investigators, when she answered students' question why they would not attend a competition in Europe, she expressed her position on the war. One of the students recorded the conversation on a tape recorder and sent it to law enforcement officers. The indictment states that Gen «told students false information that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation seized the territories of other states, started a war in the „LPR“ and „DPR“ in 2014, bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol, planned to overthrow Ukrainian President Zelensky, and, while on Ukrainian territory, shot down the foreign aircraft Boeing 777 belonging to Malaysia and are engaged in the annexation, capture of foreign and expansion of their territories.» The teacher confessed but then rejected her confession. She signed a pledge not to leave the city. On August 3rd, 2022, Gen was sentenced to 5 years of probation with a three year ban on teaching.

St. Petersburg

Alexandra Skochilenko, musician, artist, 33.

According to investigators, she replaced price tags in a grocery store with flyers about the shelling of the Mariupol Drama Theater and the resulting civilian deaths. She is being held in a pre-trial detention center despite suffering from celiac disease (an intolerance to gluten). At first, she was not provided with food that she could eat and was bullied by her cellmates at the pre-trial detention center. Later, she was moved to a cell with better conditions. The case is already in the court. At one of the hearings, Darya Khashchevskaya, the cardiologist who examined Skochilenko, said that the girl’s life was in danger — she was at risk of cardiac arrest. In July 2023, Skochilenko’s cell was searched at least four times over a period of two weeks. She was not in her cell during the last search. Her belongings were scattered on the floor, her letters were trampled, earplugs were crushed, a book was torn up and a daily dose of medication was confiscated. When asked what the searches were related to, the staff of the centre said they were related to the price tags that led to the case against Skochilenko. Since mid-July, the pre-trial detention centre has stopped accepting books and introduced a restriction: each detainee can have no more than three books. In addition, there is no hot water in the centre’s showers. At the same time, for security reasons, prisoners are not allowed to take hot water out of their cells in buckets, but only in basins that are difficult to carry. In August, it was reported that Skochilenko was given insufficient amounts of drinking water. On September 15, court officers sprayed tear gas at people who had come to the hearing to support Skochilenko. On September 29, it emerged that Skochilenko had not eaten for two days because of the schedule of court hearings: she was escorted out of the pre-trial detention centre before breakfast and returned after dinner, and because she has been diagnosed with celiac disease, she was not given a dry ration. Due to the late return to the pre-trial detention centre, the defendant also did not receive neuroleptics and psychotherapy in time.

Olga Smirnova, an activist of Peaceful Resistance movement, 55.

She was detained following a search. A charge has been brought forward concerning seven posts in the movement’s group on the social media platform vk.com made in early March 2022. These posts were dedicated to, among other things, military actions in Zaporizhzhya region, the shelling of Mariupol and activities in Kharkiv region as well as an anti-war picket that Smirnova held on March 6. Smirnova is being held in a pre-trial dentention center, the court hearing was closed to the public and lasted until late in the night. On October 10th, 2022, the court returned the case to the prosecutor but in December the case was again brought to court. The court dismissed Smirnova’s lawyer Dinar Idrisov from the proceedings under the pretext that two other witnesses in the case have also signed a power of attorney with him. On August 30, 2023, Smirnova was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony.

In December 2022, Idrisov reported that another case had been opened against her for destruction of objects of cultural heritage (Article 243 of the Criminal Code, see above).

Viktoria Petrova, 29.

She was detained and charged with disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces, motivated by political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The charge concerns some videos posted on social media site vk.com that contained information that the investigators believe contradicted information from the Defense Ministry. Petrova is being held in a pre-trial detention center. As evidence of Petrova’s guilt, the investigation used a message sent to the woman by an anonymous user on VKontakte. In the bill of indictment, the investigator referred to a message from a user with the nickname «Valday Valdaykin», who had written the following messages to Petrova: «Hello, Russophobe and terrorist» and «Have you dried your bread yet?» According to the law enforcement officials, the receipt of such messages «indicates a direct intention» for Petrova to post «fakes» about the Russian army. The court is processing the case. On August 24, 2023, it became known that according to the results of the inpatient forensic psychiatric examination Petrova was appointed a legal representative — her uncle.

Father Ioann Kurmoyarov, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, 55.

According to investigators, Kurmoyarov published a video disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces. In the video, he said that Russian servicemen killed in Ukraine would go to hell, not heaven, because they were not peacekeepers. Kurmoyarov was detained and is being held in a pre-trial detention center. On August 10th, 2022, it was revealed that attorney Leonid Krikun, who is defending Kurmoyarov, signed a non-disclosure agreement. The court is processing the case. On April 25, 2023, it was reported that there had been a change of judge and that the case would be retried. At one of the hearings, Kurmoyarov said that the medical staff of pre-trial detention centre 1 «Kresty-2» ignored twenty-five of his requests for medical assistance, that his complaints were not registered and that the staff call button did not work, which, given his hypertension, could lead to death in the event of a heart attack or stroke. He also said that he had not been allowed to take a shower for more than two weeks, due to an alleged lack of hot water, and that he had been strip-searched not behind a screen but in front of the others in the cell. At the pre-trial detention centre, the priest was classified as being prone to extremism and terrorism. On August 31, 2023, Kurmoyarov was sentenced to three years in a general regime penal colony.

Boris Romanov, 37.

Detained on May 10th, 2022, taken to a pre-trial detention center on the following day. The case was launched in relation to a video published on social media site vk.com where a person that looks like Romanov congratulated the members of Svetlanovsky Municipal Deputy Council with the ending of the war as a result of peace negotiations in Istanbul. On July 28th, the precautionary measure was replaced with a ban on certain actions. The case was sent to the court. After he failed to appear three times, Romanov was put on the wanted list.

Oleg Belousov, 55.

According to investigators, he left comments criticizing the military in the «Saint Petersburg Diggers» sub-public forum, which is dedicated to searches for antiquities and military paraphernalia. He was detained and taken into custody. On October 11th, 2022, Belousov was also charged with calling for extremism (Criminal Code Article 280, part 2) for a comment on social media. According to the investigation, Belousov’s words contained «signs that he accused a person who holds public office». The case of calls for extremism was based on a post in which Belousov accused Putin of war crimes. Belousov’s son has a disability. The investigators used the son as a witness in the case, which made him unable to see his father. On March 29, 2023, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

He is defended by OVD-Info attorney Grigory Grigoryev.

Vsevolod Korolev, documentary filmmaker, 35.

He made short films about the criminal cases against artist Sasha Skochilenko and journalist Maria Ponomarenko. He earned his living by giving private lessons in English and maths and by organising water excursions. The case was brought forward in connection to the posts made on social media platform vk.com concerning events in Bucha, Borodyanka and Donetsk. He has been detained and is currently in custody. Korolev was denied family visits for seven months. The case is already in the court. At one of the court hearings, the witness for the prosecution, Mikhail Baranov, who during the investigation stated that Korolev’s post made him angry, testified that many of the words in his statement were fed to him by the investigator and that he considered Korolev’s posts an expression of free speech. The testimonies of Baranov and another witness, Vladimir Shatokhin, match verbatim. The defence identified a number of serious violations in the examination of Korolev’s social media page by a Centre for Combating Extremism field officer. According to a certificate from the Centre for Combating Extremism, which was read out by the prosecution at one of its meetings, Korolev was an active participant in the protest movement, using pyrotechnics and involving the media, taking part in the activities of Navalny’s headquarters and anti-war rallies in which he involved citizens via the Internet. The document also says that the filmmaker sent out e-mail messages about the bombing of buildings in Stavropol.

Evgeny Bestuzhev, 62, member of the «Solidarnost» political committee (a Saint Petersburg political movement).

The case was opened in connection to the article on publically disseminating deliberately false information («fake news») about the use of the Russian armed forces on the grounds of political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case was initiated following 27 posts published on Bestuzhev’s personal page on VKontakte, including a link to Bestuzhev’s interview with Ukrainian YouTube channel SobiNews. Bestuzhev was detained after a search. The court placed him in custody. The case is already in the court. In two months, Bestuzhev’s health deteriorated greatly: he repeatedly complained to his lawyer of heart and leg pains, and a doctor in the pre-trial detention centre diagnosed him with superficial vein thrombosis. In early June 2023, it was reported that Bestuzhev had been sent to hospital for a medical examination. In July, his attorney reported that a protocol was drawn up against Bestuzhev under an article on calls for separatism (Article 20.3.2 of the Administrative Code).The protocol alluded to some public speech in October 2022.

Bestuzhev’s interests are being represented by OVD-Info lawyer Sergey Podolsky.

Abakan

Mikhail Afanasiev, editor of Novy Fokus, 46.

Detained in relation to a charge for disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces, with the use of one’s official position (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Earlier, Novy Fokus published a text about OMON officers from Khakassia region that refused to travel and fight in Ukraine. He is being held in a pre-trial detention center. On November 17th, 2022, the court returned the case to the prosecutor’s office because the investigation materials were missing key information — the location and the time of the posts that formed the grounds for charges against Afanasyev. The defence insists that there is no basis for criminally charging Afanasyev, since the text was published before criminal liability for disseminating «fakes» was extended beyond the Russian military to OMON which is not part of the Russian military. In March 2023, the case was sent back to court. On September 7, 2023, Afanasyev was sentenced to five and a half years in a general regime penal colony. On September 28, the court liquidated Novy Focus.

Elista

Altan Ochirov, town hall employee, 41, and Erentsen Dolyaev, member of the Congress of the Oirat Kalmyk People, 54.

Ochirov was detained on April 13th, 2022. According to the «Ostorozhno, news!» Telegram channel, he administered the «Volniy Ulus» Telegram channel where, from his work computer, he made posts about the war in Ukraine. Ochirov is being held in a pre-trial detention center. A case has been launched concerning the spread of knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces using an official position, by a group of people, with grounds of hatred (Paragraphs «A», «B» and «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The accusation regarding the use of an official position (Paragraph «A») has been revoked from Ochirov. The case contains information about a shelling of a civilian car with elderly man and woman inside by Russian soldiers, the destruction of Russian military ships and looting by Russian soldiers. Investigators refer to the letter by a deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff, general Igor Dylevsky, claiming that the listed information is false. Erentsen Dolyaev, who has left Russia, claims that Ochirov stopped using the channel several months before his arrest. On October 18th, 2022, Ochirov was sentenced to three years in a prison colony. On December 23rd, the appellate court lengthened the sentence to five years. According to «Network Freedom, ” other active members of the Congress of the Oirat Kalmyk People — including Batyr Boromangnaev (head of the Yabloko party regional branch), Vladimir Dovdanov and Arslang Sandzhiev — were also figures of interest to the investigation. All of them have left Russia.

Barnaul

Maria Ponomarenko, journalist at RusNews, 44.

Detained on April 23rd, 2022, in Saint Petersburg. She is accused of publishing information on March 17th about the shelling of the Mariupol Drama Theater, which at that time served as a shelter for civilians. The Defense Ministry of Russia objected to this information, claiming that the shelling was conducted by nationalist militants. Ponomarenko was taken to a pre-trial detention center on April 27th. On May 23rd, it became known that she was transported to Barnaul. For some time she was sent to a psychiatric hospital for examination. Ponomarenko reported that she was «forcibly injected with an unknown substance» for her demands for personal clothing, utensils, toiletries and hygiene products, after which she was in a state of oblivion. In September, due to a serious decline in her mental health, she broke a window in her cell and slit her veins. She was sent to an isolation cell. On November 14th she was moved to house arrest. The case is awaiting trial. On the night of January 27, she had a conflict with her ex-husband, in whose apartment Ponomarenko was required to serve her house arrest. She went to the police station, after which the court changed her pre-trial restriction to detention. On February 15, 2023, she was sentenced to six years in a penal colony. After the verdict, she was transferred to another pre-trial detention centre, where she was forced to undress during a search, causing Ponomarenko to have a fit of rage, after which she was subjected to force and sent to a psychiatric hospital, where she spent three days. In the colony, Ponomarenko is not allowed to hand over to her lawyer the documents on the violations committed by the colony staff. In addition, since September 17 she has not received any letters and has not yet received the necessary medical care. ono

She is defended by OVD-Info attorney Dmitry Shitov.

Volgograd

Evgeniy Kochegin, ex-coordinator of local headquarters of Alexey Navalny’s team.

Arrested in absentia, placed on the wanted list. Charged with disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces, motivated by hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The details of the case are unknown. Kochegin’s attorney was not allowed to review the case materials, the court said that this was not a violation. On January 30, 2023, a local resident was interrogated in relation to this criminal case.

Smolensk

Vladimir Zavyalov, 38.

According to investigators, he printed antiwar flyers and placed them instead of price tags in a grocery store. He is under house arrest. At first, he was charged as per Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code — however, later experts discovered the political hatred motives behind Zavyalov’s actions and reclassified the charge to Part 2. The court is processing the case. After the prosecutor requested a 6 year prison sentence, Zavyalov left Russia and was arrested in absentia.

Taganrog

Vitaly Mishin

A case was initiated for spreading false information about the Russian army with motives of political hatred in connection with a comment on VKontakte that claimed that the Russian army kills Ukrainian civilians. Mishin is a Chechen war veteran and has a disability, he does not have a left leg. He admitted his guilt. On August 10th, 2022, he was sentenced to a 5 year conditional sentence with a two year probationary period, and a one-year ban on administering Internet sites.

Krasnoyarsk

Natalya Peterimova, a former employee of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters, 36.

Details of the case are unknown. She is currently outside of Russia, has been placed on a wanted list and arrested in absentia.

Igor Orlovsky, 52.

For details, see the section on Paragraph «C», Part 2, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code.

Omsk

Dmitry Petrenko, city council deputy, 35.

On March 29th, 2022, his home was searched and he was detained on March 30th. The grounds were a post on the deputy’s Telegram channel that described the shelling of Mariupol. A precautionary measure in the form of prohibition of certain protest actions was chosen. The court started processing the case. On August 10th, 2022, Petrenko did not appear for his preliminary hearing. He was put on the wanted list and arrested in absentia.

Yu. Morozov, a serviceman.

A criminal case for spreading «knowingly false information» about the Russian army through abuse of position was initiated. There are no further details yet. He was arrested on 11 March 2023.

Novokubansk (Krasnodar krai)

Alexander Nozdrinov, blogger, 38.

The grounds for launching this case was the publication of a photo of a destroyed block of flats in Kyiv with the caption «Ukrainian cities after the arrival of the liberators» on his Telegraph channel «SANYA Novokubansk». He was taken to a pre-trial detention center. Searches as part of the case were also conducted in Armavir. Nozdrinov was accused of deliberately spreading false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for selfish motives and political hatred (Paragraphs «g» and «d», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, the selfish motives are confirmed by the fact that Nozdrinov allegedly received one thousand rubles for the publication. The defendant’s lawyer, Olesya Panyuzheva, said that during the court hearings prosecutors threatened to initiate a disciplinary proceeding against her, make unfounded objections to the defence, as well as interrupt during questioning of witnesses. The judge removed the defence lawyer, author of the «Especially dangerous lawyer» Telegram channel, Sergei Zemtsov, from the courtroom after he said that the prosecutors kept jumping up and interrupting the defence to get them to withdraw their questions to the witnesses. The day after one of the hearings, Panyuzheva was detained by the traffic police and charged with disobeying a lawful request by the police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). According to her, the police officers told her that there was nothing they could do and referred to a special order. On April 27, 2023, Nozdrinov’s wife and his public defender, Ekaterina Nozdrinova, was removed from the courtroom because, when answering the judge’s questions, she raised herself only slightly instead of standing fully up. In September, it emerged that the prosecution in the case was being represented by prosecutor Alexander Ilinov, against whom Nozdrinov had previously conducted an investigation, accusing him of involvement in the theft of state land. On September 20, the blogger wrote to his wife that after one of the sessions, his lawyer was not allowed to see him, and that law enforcement officers, including the head of the local police department, who Nozdrinov believes was involved in fabricating his criminal case, had gone through his belongings; Nozdrinov feared that something had been planted on him. On September 29, 2023, the blogger was sentenced to eight and a half years in a general regime penal colony.

A case of credit fraud (Article 159.1 of the Criminal Code) was opened against Ekaterina Nozdrinova. Otkrytoe Prostranstvo (Open Space) wrote that the family, with three children, was living on the father’s income and that Ekaterina had to take out loans, which led to debt. On May 17, 2023, Nozdrinova’s home was searched on the basis of a warrant issued by the judge hearing her husband’s case.

Gorno-Altaisk

Sergey Mikhailov, the publisher of LIStok newspaper, 46.

Detained in Moscow on April 13th, 2022. On the same day, the newspaper office was searched. The details of the case are unknown. LIStok regularly published news related to the war in Ukraine. On April 14th, Mikhailov was taken to a pre-trial detention center. The case consists of two components: reposting information about the war on LIStok’s Telegram channel and publishing, in LIStok, an abridged version of a Wikipedia article concerning civilian murders in Bucha. On April 7, 2023, the court returned the case to the prosecutor’s office because the investigation had failed to establish the location of the crime. However, the court of appeal subsequently overturned this decision and sent the case back to the court of first instance for reconsideration. The court pointed out that the investigation was not obliged to identify the place where Mikhailov worked on LIStok: the place where the «crime» was committed was in any case Altai, since that is where readers received the newspapers with the «fakes».

Vologda

Vladimir Rumyantsev, stoker, 62.

According to investigators, he posted information about killed civilians in Ukraine and also spoke about the war on his own radio station. He is currently in custody. In September 2022, the case was returned to investigators for further investigation. In October, the case was sent back to court. Rumyantsev was sentenced to three years imprisonment on December 22, 2022.

He is defended by OVD-Info attorney Sergey Tikhonov.

Evgeny Domozhirov, former coordinator of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters, SOTA Vision editor-in-chief, 48.

The case was opened on December 1, 2022, for spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation motivated by political hatred (Paragraph «d» Part 2 of Criminal Code Article 207.3), for Telegram posts. Domozhirov has left Russia. The case was opened for his posts about a missile strike on a dormitory in Kharkiv, a strike on a residential building in Nikopol, noting the 164th day of the full-scale invasion, about the thousands of cruise missiles Russia launched at Ukrainian territory, strikes against the centre of Vinnytsya, his own birthday and immigration, and about a Russian soldier that has severed genitalia of an Ukrainian prisoner of war. There are two counts included in the case. In February 2023, the investigator arranged for Domozhirov’s 74-year-old mother to be forcibly brought in for questioning. The politician noted that the mother had not received any summons for questioning. Domozhirov was arrested in absentia.

Earlier Domozhirov was reported to have been put on the wanted list, but the Investigative Committee denied this information. Domozhirov has shared the official document of his criminal record, which shows that he has been wanted since May 6, 2022, for a traffic violation that caused serious injury (Part 1 of Article 264 of the Criminal Code).

Konakovo (Tver region)

Alexander Martynov, Yandex taxi driver, 64, and Lyudmila Razumova, artist and photojournalist, 56.

According to investigators, they «posted on their pages in one of the social networks, openly available to other users, videos containing knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to destroy cities and civilians in Ukraine.» These were obtained from unofficial Russian sources. They were arrested. Later they were also charged with vandalism (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, using paint and stencils they «desecrated buildings and other structures, ” as well as „damaged property“ in the villages of Mokshino, Varaksino, Teshilovo, Mirny and Novozavidovsky. In particular, they wrote „Ukraine, forgive us“ on the back wall of a shop called „Konfetka“ („Candy“). At the investigation stage, Martynov and Razumova pleaded guilty, but during her final statement in court, Razumova stated that she did not consider the videos she published about the death of civilians in Ukraine to be false. Consequently, the investigation was reopened. Furthermore, Razumova said that the investigator blackmailed her with her child, a minor daughter. On March 17, 2023, Razumova was sentenced to seven years in prison and Martynov to six and a half years.

Martynov is defended by OVD-Info attorney Maria Varayeva and Razumova by OVD-Info attorney Andrei Donskoy.

Andrei Trofimov, writer and activist, 56.

For more details, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Nizhny Novgorod

Alexey Onoshkin, blogger, traveler, political activist, priest at the Temple of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, 33.

On April 28th, 2022, he was detained and forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The reason for this was a citizen’s statement about the activist’s suicidal tendencies due to a video in which he said that the Russian authorities were driving him to suicide. On July 21st, Onoshkin was released from the hospital. On August 12th, it became known that a criminal case was opened concerning «fake news.» The activist has not confirmed this. On August 16th, his home was searched and he was detained as a suspect. The following day, the court placed Onoshkin in pre-trial detention because of a post on social media network vk.com about the shelling of the Mariupol theater. On October 3rd, the court sent Onoshkin back to the psychiatric hospital because of his mental disorder until the investigation is completed. In November, information surfaced that Onoshkin was also prosecuted for the public justification of terrorism (Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The case was opened on the basis of several comments published between March 2020 and July 2021. They mentioned the leaders of the armed struggle for the secession of Chechnya from Russia. The cases were joined and sent to court. On March 9, 2023, the court returned the case to the prosecutor’s office due to various violations. Onoshkin’s hospital stay ended on March 28, but the head doctor said that he would not release the defendant without the prosecutor’s instructions because he was charged with «bad articles». Onoshkin’s stay in hospital was later extended. In September 2023, the case went back to court. On October 6, the decision to prolong Onoshkin’s hospital detention was overturned, but he was not released from the hospital. Initially, the case was opened on the charge of spreading «fakes» on the grounds of political hatred (Paragraph e, Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), but the court reclassified the charge under the milder first part of this article. On October 11, 2023, the court sent Onoshkin to compulsory treatment.

Onoshkin’s interests are represented by Kristina Tyurina, a lawyer from OVD-Info.

ponoIrina Sedelnikova, likely an employee of the Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Management — a branch of RANEPA — and earlier an Associate Professor of the Department of Industrial Management and Logistics of the School of Management of the HSE in Nizhny Novgorod.

She has been charged with misusing her official position to spread knowingly false information about the Armed Forces of Russian Federation motivated by hatred (Paragraphs «a» and «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Details are unknown. The case has already been handed to the court.

Mikhail Zharikov, former referee of hockey matches, employee of the press service of the Nizhny Novgorod hockey club «Torpedo», which is part of the Youth Hockey League, 39.

In June 2023, the media reported that Zharikov published anti-war posts and photos of destroyed Ukrainian cities on his Instagram page. While on air, he compared modern Russia with Germany of the 1930s and criticised Russians for not speaking out against the war en masse. After Zharikov reposted the announcement of the rally on June 4 in support of Alexei Navalny, he was forced to record an apology on video and then arrested for eight days under the article on the organisation of an uncoordinated event (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code). On 6 July, the Investigative Committee opened a case against Zharikov under the article on spreading «knowingly false information» about the Russian army for a broadcast on Instagram in June. He was taken into custody.

On 1 August, a new case was opened against Zharikov under the article on rehabilitating Nazism (Part 2 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code) for a post on VKontakte in which he expressed his opinion about the role of the Russian Liberation Army in the liberation of the Czech Republic in 1945 and quoted Solzhenitsyn’s «The Gulag Archipelago». The cases were merged. It later emerged that Zharikov had also been charged with public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) for comments on Instagram about the car bombing of writer and propagandist Zakhar Prilepin. Zharikov was initially charged under Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, but the charge was then reclassified as spreading deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces for hate motives (Paragraph «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On October 20, 2023, Zharikov was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony.

Zharikov’s interests are represented by OVD-Info lawyer Alexei Matasov.

Sochi

Evgeny Zolotov, infectious disease specialist, 41.

A criminal case was opened for Facebook comments on the Russian army’s losses and the formation of anti-retreat detachments of Chechen soldiers. The comments were posted in March 2022. On August 24th, Zolotov was fined 3 million rubles.

Vorkuta

Pavel Drozdov, 40.

According to investigators, he created a group in a messenger with at least 28 members. There he posted 2 videos that allegedly «consisted knowingly false information» about the Russian army. The website of the republican Investigative Committee also states that Drozdov posted comments with «false information» in public groups on the Internet. Apart from that, he is charged with illegal sale of drugs (Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code). He is in custody. On November 9th, 2022, the court found Drozdov guilty of selling drugs, while returning the case on disseminating «fakes» to the prosecutors, having found that the indictment needed to be revised. Specifically, they wrote that Drozdov adheres to pacifist views, but the charge said he disseminated false information motivated by hatred toward soldiers.

Rostov-on-Don

Valery Kotovich, officer of the Russian National Guard, 43.

Served in the Ukrainian internal troops on the territory of Crimea and received Russian citizenship in 2014. A case is initiated concerning spreading knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces using an official position with the motives of hatred (Paragraphs «A» and «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.) The Telegram channel «Two majors» states that Kotovich «spoke out about aggressive actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the territory of Ukraine, looting committed by the soldiers of the Russian Army, the falsity of the stated goals and objectives of the special military operation, losses in manpower and equipment, and suffering of Ukrainian civilians». Before that, the same channel had reported that Kotovich, «while being a rear unit officer, had failed to fulfil his obligations properly, resulting in a delay of delivery of material resources and foodstuffs to units on the front». He was denounced by his subordinates. Kotovich is in custody. On May 2, 2023, he was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony.

Unknown person

Details are unknown. On March 27, 2023, the court decided on forced hospitalization.

Sergey Reznik, journalist, 46.

According to investigators, on his Telegram channel he posted «knowingly false information about the goals, tasks and the order of conduct of the Russian special operation in Ukraine». Reznik is currently outside Russia. Additionally, Reznik is accused of rehabilitating Nazism in connection to his post on June 22nd, 2021. In March 2022, he was arrested in absentia in connection to this case. On August 8th, 2022, a case was opened against Reznik for blackmailing Roman Gevorkyan, director of the Nakhichevan Bazaar. In the same month it was reported that the three cases had been merged.

Later, a criminal case for calls for extremist activities was initiated against Reznik (Article 280 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Tolyatti

Andrey Balin, former head of the Samara office of Parnas, 49.

A case was opened for spreading knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces motivated by hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) for six posts on VKontakte between March 12th and April 4th, 2022. On March 17, 2023, Balin was sentenced to seven years in prison and taken into custody in the courtroom.

Balin is defended by OVD-Info attorney Zakhar Lebedev.

Odintsovo (Moscow region)

Olga Trifonova, 60.

The case was opened in connection with an article about crimes committed by the Russian army in Bucha. The court reportedly decided to send her for compulsory treatment, but Trifonova told OVD-Info that while the court intended to make that decision, she did not attend the hearings due to illness and so was unsure whether that decision was made. On March 25, 2023, the court of appeal overturned the order for compulsory treatment, but Trifonova told OVD-Info that she was again unaware of the court’s decision. On April 20, Trifonova was detained and taken to court, where she was again ordered into compulsory hospitalisation. She was released home from the courtroom.

On September 8th, 2022, in Odintsovo, the houses of four employees and the director of the IT-company that provided service to the portal «Odintsovo-Info» were searched. The search was related to a post published on the portal in May under the headline «A clear response to Russian citizens on the war crimes committed in Bucha.» It is unclear whether these searches are connected to Trifonova’s case.

Cherepovets

Gregori Markus Severin Vinter (formerly — Grigory Vinter), human rights activist, 54.

He was in custody for a post on VKontakte about the actions of the Russian army in Bucha, as well as eight reposts about the shelling of the drama theatre in Mariupol. Vinter said that at night the temperature in his jail cell goes down to 4-6 degrees Celsius. He also said that he has gone deaf in one ear because of the low temperatures and that he has run out of his supply of insulin. After that, he was given insulin, but still continued to write about the inadequate supply of medication. On October 19th, 2022, he was transferred to house arrest. On October 28th, the court of appeals overturned this decision. Vinter reported that he was humiliated and beaten in the pre-trial detention center while certain persons tried to get him to write a statement saying he had been placed on the «lowest rung» in the prison. The case is already in the court. aAt one of the court sessions, Vinter was not allowed to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office against the actions of the pre-trial detention centre staff. Vinter has 12 cats at home, and while he was awaiting his sentence he started giving them away.

Vinter is being defended by OVD-Info lawyer Sergei Tikhonov.

Kiselevsk (Kemerovo region)

Bulat Shumekov

On April 15th, 2022, he was detained and sent to custody. «Novosti Sibiri» reported that Shumekov had accused the military of committing crimes and shedding the blood of Ukrainian civilians. Initially, it was reported that the case was opened under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, but it later was revealed that Shumekov was charged with disseminating deliberately false information about the Russian armed forces, motivated by hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case is being heard by the court. On March 9, 2023, Shumekov was sentenced to seven years in prison. On June 28, the court of appeal reduced the sentence to five and a half years.

Shumekov’s interests are represented by OVD-Info lawyer Dmitry Miropoltsev.

Yekaterinburg

Dmitry Kolezev, 38, Republic’s editor in chief.

According to «Kommersant, ” a criminal investigation was opened due to an Instagram post dedicated to the Bucha massacre in April 2022. A case was opened the same month under an article concerning the public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian armed forces, abusing one’s official position (Paragraph „A“, Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Kolezev left Russia and was placed on a wanted list. Later, the journalist was listed in the registry of mass media performing the functions of a „foreign agent“.

Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod region)

Andrey Rossiev, 42. Worked as an oil and gas production operator for Gazprom. Head of Kaster OrgsintezGroup, a large Russian company operating in the polymer market. vi

The case was opened under the article of disseminating deliberately false information about the Russian armed forces, motivated by hatred (Paragraph «D», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) due to 10 comments he made on social media platform vk.com about the Bucha massacre, the use of chemical weapons and other crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. He was also charged with incitement to hatred with the threat of violence (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code) towards «military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces» and «Russian citizens supporting the Special Military Operation» in connection to 27 other social media comments. Rossiev was detained in Krasnodar and taken to Kstovo. The court imposed him a pre-trial restriction of a ban on certain activities. Later, three comments allegedly inciting hatred were excluded from the case, since Rossiev had already been fined for them under the administrative article on discrediting the Russian military (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Rossiev’s interests are represented by OVD-Info lawyer Kristina Tyurina.

In September 2022, Rossiev was sentenced to a fine of 300,000 rubles on charges of publicly justifying terrorism and inciting hatred for two comments on the Echo of Moscow page under a news story about a pensioner who sued for 60,000 rubles for unlawful prosecution. The comments related to the case of Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who blew himself up in the building of the regional office of the FSB in Arkhangelsk in 2018.

Kovrov (Vladimir region)

Ivan Kavinov, 32.

The case was opened under an article concerning the public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian armed forces, motivated by hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) due to at least seven posts in a Telegram channel. He has been taken into custody. On May 26, 2023, Kavinov was sentenced to three years in a strict regime penal colony. The severity of the sentence seems to be explained by the fact that this is not his first criminal case. In February 2012, Kavinov was sentenced to nine years in a strict regime penal colony in a robbery case, taking into account the sentence imposed in September 2010.

Lipetsk

Ilya Danilov, former coordinator of the local Navalny headquarters, 33.

On August 25th, 2022, a search of the house where he was registered was conducted in a criminal case for dissemination of false information about the Russian Army motivated by hatred or enmity (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case was opened on April 4th, 2022, for a publication that had been made in Telegram channel «Danilov uncensored». On March 14th, the activist published a video in which captured Russian soldiers call their mothers. Initially it was reported that Danilov, who had left the country, is a witness in the case. In November, it became known that Danilov had been put on the wanted list. On December 13th, he was arrested in absentia as a suspect.

Zavyalovo (Udmurtia)

Dmitry Talantov, lawyer, former president of the Bar Association of Udmurtia, 62.

One of the lawyers for journalist Ivan Safronov, who has been charged with treason. He was detained in Izhevsk in the end of June 2022 on suspicion of spreading «knowingly false information» about the Russian army motivated by hatred or enmity (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and taken to Moscow. The court decided to place him under custody. The reason for opening the case was a post on Facebook in which Talantov described the actions of the Russian army in Mariupol, Irpen and Bucha as Nazi practices. In July, lawyer Daniil Berman reported that no bed was available for Talantov in the pre-trial detention centre. In September, it became known that more charges appeared in the case, namely two charges of spreading «knowingly false information» about the Russian army and two charges for inciting hatred (Paragraph «B», Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code) for posts made on Facebook. In December, the case was transferred to the Zavyalovsky District Court of Udmurtia. In January 2023, it became known that Talantov had been removed from the position of president of the Chamber of Advocates.

Khabarovsk

Daniil Frolkin, soldier, 21.

A case of dissemination of false information about the Russian Armed Forces by a group of people for personal gain (Paragraphs «b», «d» p 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) was opened. The case is at court. The name, surname and patronymic are exactly the same as a soldier who admitted his involvement in the killing of civilians and other war crimes in the Kyiv region to Ekaterina Fomina, journalist from «Important Stories». Her investigation, which included a retelling of the phone call with Frolkin, was released on August 15th, 2022. At the end of July, he left for Khabarovsk Krai, where he submitted his resignation. In Ukraine a case was opened against Frolkin for violations of the laws and customs of war (Part 2, Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). After the case under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of RF was opened, Fomina attempted to contact Frolkin but he did not respond. On March 16, 2023, the court sentenced Frolkin to five and a half years' probation.

Vladimir Mishchuk, military man.

The case was initiated on charges of disseminating deliberately false information about the Armed Forces motivated by political hatred (clause «d» part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Details are unknown. Presumably in custody. Sentencing took place on September 6, details unknown.

Korolyov (Moscow oblast)

Person wishing to remain anonymous, 37.

According to investigators, on April 10th she deliberately published false information about war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Bucha as though it was the truth. On October 26th, a search was conducted in the home of activist Vladislav Teut in relation to the case. He was allowed to leave freely after an interrogation, but later the court arrested him for five days for disorderly conduct (Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The woman is in pre-trial detention. On April 13, 2023, the court ordered her to undergo compulsory treatment.

Roman Ivanov, journalist from RusNews, 50.

On April 11, 2023, in the morning, security officers broke into Ivanov’s home damaging his door and part of his wall. They were conducting a search. Later, three criminal cases were initiated against Ivanov under the article for deliberately «spreading knowingly false information about the Russian Army motivated by political hatred» as a result of three posts on his Telegram channel Chestnoye Korolyovskoye! These posts included information about corpses found in the Kyiv Oblast after the withdrawal of Russian troops, a report from the UN describing the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and news that Sergei Shoigu stated Russia lacked missiles. On the same day that the cases were consolidated, Ivanov was charged. The following day, he was taken into custody. On April 20, Ivanov was preventively registered at the detention center as a «person who studies, practices and promotes an extremist ideology.» Ivanov was not invited to the relevant committee meeting or informed about their decision. He learned that he was put on this record only at the end of July. In September, Ivanov’s lawyer reported that during a search of his cell, materials relating to Ivanov’s criminal case had been seized, preventing him from preparing for trial. The case is already before the court.

Ivanov is represented by an OVD-Info lawyer.

Kursk

Evgeny Babin, IT-specialist, 37.

The reason for the criminal prosecution is an anti-war video published on a YouTube channel with ten subscribers. According to investigators, it contains the following «fakes»:

— Putin, as the Supreme Commander, uses prohibited weapons and destroys civilian infrastructure facilities during the military action in Ukrainian territory and therefore is a terrorist;

— Putin threatens people with using nuclear weapons;

— Russian soldiers do not deserve to be called warriors and possess no virtues;

— The Russian Army conducts armed hostilities against Ukraine and killing innocent people;

— the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation defends the property of the ruling class, therefore breaching their oath to defend the country;

— Russian representatives have started armed hostilities against Ukraine and are killing civilians.

Babin signed an agreement not to leave the city. The case is already in the court.

Babin’s interests are being represented in court by OVD-Info lawyer Roman Lyzlov.

Balashov (Saratov region)

Oleg Nepein, Communist Party city council deputy, 67.

The case was opened following his comments about the war in Ukraine, published in the Telegram channel «Saratov-Engels», including the events in Bucha. On December 1, 2022, Nepein’s house was searched which resulted in the security forces seizing two computers, two smartphones, flash drives and a hard drive. The deputy notes that he was not shown a search warrant. After the search, Nepein was taken to the Investigative Committee for interrogation, where he was prevented from photographing the case materials. Initially, the case was initiated under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, but later the charge was reclassified as disseminating false information about the Armed Forces motivated by hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). In total, Nepein is charged for 11 statements. The case is already in the court. After Nepein failed to appear in court on several occasions, he was put on the wanted list and arrested in absentia. Meanwhile, Nepein’s wife claimed that he was not hiding, but simply refusing to appear in court because he considered himself a citizen of the USSR and argued that the courts of the Russian Federation had no right to try him. On May 12, 2023, Nepein was detained and taken into custody. On September 21, 2023, the court decided to send Nepein to compulsory treatment. mi

Nepein is represented by OVD-Info lawyer Igor Elifkhanov.

In November 2022, it turned out that a criminal case had also been opened against Nepein under the article prohibiting repeated demonstrations of Nazi symbols (Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code). According to preliminary information, the communist is charged with posting a publication with a swastika in the news feed of the «Saratov-Engels» group. He claims he did not do it: «A swastika was published using my name. The case was sloppily put together, no expert assessments were done». In August 2022, Nepein was fined 1,000 rubles for demonstrating Nazi symbols (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). According to the activist, someone posted visuals of Nazi paraphernalia under his name in the «Saratov-Engels» group.

Petrozavodsk

Ruben Pogosyan

Detained after being subject to a search. The case is opened in connection to reposting information about events in Bucha, Mariupol, Kramatorsk on VKontakte. He said that during the search the law enforcement officers pressed a gun to his neck. The court banned Pogosyan from certain actions as a precautionary measure. Initially the case against Pogosyan was opened under Part 1 of the Criminal Code Article on disseminating «fakes, ” but the charge was changed to disseminating „fakes“ motivated by political hatred (Paragraph „E“, Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case is already in the court.

Irina Bystrova, head of an art studio, 57.

For more information, see the section concerning Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Elena Shchelupanova, social worker, 56.

She was engaged in social work. In April 2021 she was detained for 5 days over the publication about a rally in support of Navalny. Details of the criminal case are unknown. In addition to spreading false information about the Armed Forces for reasons of hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), Shchelupanova is also charged with publicly justifying terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). On March 3, 2023, she was sentenced to three years' probation and a fine of 360,000 rubles.

Yoshkar-Ola

Andrey Filippov, 37.

A case of disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces motivated by hatred (Paragraph «E» of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) was opened against him. According to initial information, the reason for the case was publications on his VKontakte page and his YouTube channel about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appeal to Russians. Later, in a letter published by the Politzek-Info project, Filippov wrote that the case against him was brought because of the video «The war between Russia and Ukraine: a perspective from a Ukrainian», which he had published on his YouTube channel. Filippov was in custody. On June 29, 2023, the court sentenced him to a fine of 1,800,000 rubles.

Pavel Pekpaev, 47.

Perkpaev was charged with public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation motivated by hatred (Paragraph «D», Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The court passed a sentence on 4 August 2023. No further details are known about the case or the sentence.

Orenburg

Andrei Prikazchikov, the leader of the «Derzhava» party, which advocates for «Russian socialism, » 59.

A case has been initiated against him for disseminating knowingly false information about the Armed Forces due to hatred (p. «d» of p. 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and for discrediting the Armed Forces (p.1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, from September 2 to October 10, 2022, he posted unreliable information about the Russian army on a certain social network «with the aim of forming a negative attitude towards the» special operation, as well as «gave a negative assessment of the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and government agencies.» On June 10, 2022, Prikazchikov was fined 30,000 rubles under an administrative article on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for publishing a video appeal called «Think! And stop being afraid! We have nothing left to fear! Only nuclear war! And don’t deceive yourself! It was not peace that Putin the Liberator brought to the people.» The criminal case is already in the court.

Shakhty (Rostov region)

Evgeniya Mayboroda, 71.

Details unknown. On 14 February 2023, the court selected her measure of restriction in the form of the prohibition of certain actions. Mayboroda was fined 40,000 rubles (529 USD) for discrediting the Russian Army. According to the court decision, posts on her personal page on «VKontakte» criticising the war were the reason. On April 28, Mayboroda was put on the Rosfinmonitoring’s list of extremists and terrorists as an extremist, reasons unknown.

Maykop (Adygea Republic)

Victoria Goncharova (Kutz), 52.

She is currently in custody. Details of her case are unknown. A criminal case for her alleged participation in an extremist organisation (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) was also launched against her. According to the Telegram channel PMC Media (a Telegram channel following the Wagner group), she joined the Ukrainian right-wing organisation Right Sector, which is recognised as an extremist organisation in Russia. One post mentioned some of Goncharova’s «comments and statements» in support of «her fellow tribesmen» (she was born in Ukraine). On June 2, 2023, Goncharova was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

Kargasok (Tomsk Oblast)

Dmitry K., 39.

He posts on Twitter using the name ‘Dexter Morgan’. After the war started, he moved to Ukraine. In December 2022, a criminal case was initiated against him because he made a post on VKontakte (popular Russian equivalent to Facebook) about the war crimes committed by Russian troops in Bucha (a small town near Kyiv where war crimes were committed). Policemen came to visit his relatives. In April 2023, it became known that a criminal case for publicly justifying terrorism had been initiated against him (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code, see below). It was later reported that he was also charged with promoting terrorist activities (Part 1, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code) and inciting activities against state security (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code, see below)

Irkutsk

Vyacheslav Barabashov, 39.

His case is believed to have been reported in late August 2022, when law enforcement officers searched his home and seized equipment and data storage devices. He was given a measure of restriction in the form of a prohibition of certain actions. According to investigators, he spread «knowingly false information» on one of the social media communities. Details are not known. Initially charged under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, Barabashov was subsequently charged with spreading knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces for reasons of political hatred (Paragraph «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On September 14, 2023, the court pronounced the sentence, the details of which are unknown.

Tver

Unknown woman

The case was opened on the basis of certain posts in the Telegram channel «Close Tver after Me». On May 12, 2022, local activists in Tver were searched in connection with the case of spreading deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with the motive of hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On July 6, the suspect was released on an undertaking not to leave, but she managed to escape and was put on the wanted list the same day. On September 22, the woman was charged in absentia with spreading «fakes» about the army with the motive of hatred by an organised group (Paragraphs «B» and «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On November 2, the court arrested her in absentia and the decision came into force on November 17.

Kostroma

Alexandr Zykov, former head of the local branch of Navalny’s organization, 25.

The activist reported that the case was opened based on his posts in which he discussed soldiers killed in action from the Kostroma regiment of airborne troops. Zykov left Russia. Later, he posted the case materials: in addition, the case referred to posts on VKontakte about anti-war activities in Amsterdam and the Hague, about Zykov’s friend who had survived the bombing in Sumy oblast, a video in which Zykov saw «bearded pigs howling in a foreign region of a foreign country, and also information about the criminal case itself. In September 2022, Zykov was put on the wanted list. Investigative Committee officials visited his mother’s house, ostensibly to deliver a summons related to the criminal case. However, the summons was addressed to his grandmother, who had died ten years ago. In the conversation, the investigator mentioned that he had talked with the head of the jewelry factory where the activist’s mother works, and hinted at her possible dismissal. In January 2023, it became known that seven people had been interrogated in Kostroma in connection with the Zykov case, including a person whom Zykov did not know. Initially, the case was brought under Part 1, Article 207.3, but later the charges were reclassified as spreading false information about the Armed Forces with a motive of political hatred (Paragraph „E“, Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Zykov was arrested in absentia. On June 22, 2023, Zykov was sentenced in absentia to five years in a penal colony.

In July it was reported that another case had been opened against Zykov under the same Criminal Code Article, in connection with a post in which he shared correspondence with his friend in Sumy oblast, in which she told him that because of the constant shelling she had been sheltering in a basement with her family. However, apparently all of the material was included in one case.

Mytishchi (Moscow Oblast)

Alexander Bakhtin, 52.

Initially, it was reported that the reason for the persecution was a certain «anti-war picture» on the internet, the content of which is unknown. Later, it was revealed that there are three episodes in the case, related to posts on the Russian-speaking social network and media platform «VKontakte»: a post published on the 1st of March, 2022, before Article 207.3 was included into the Criminal Code, stating that the Russian army is killing the civilian population in Ukraine, with accusations against Putin for betraying his own mother, who was a survivor of the siege [of Leningrad during World War II]; a post from the 9th of March, 2022, about the deaths of animal rights activists and volunteers in Ukraine; a post from the 6th of April about crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Bucha. Bakhtin was taken into custody and the case is now being examined in court.

Nikita Spivak, a lawyer from OVD-Info, represents Bakhtin’s interests.

Sovetsk (Kaliningrad region)

Igor Baryshnikov, 64. In the Soviet years, he worked as an engineer, after 1991 he owned retail grocery shops in Magnitogorsk.

The first case was opened under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code. According to his lawyer, there are many episodes in the case — mainly Baryshnikov is charged with Facebook posts about the shelling of a maternity hospital in Mariupol and the murder of residents of Bucha. He signed an agreement not to leave the city.

On June 22nd, 2022, it became known that another case was filed against Baryshnikov under part 2 of the same article. The official decision concerning the launch of the case mentions posts about the sunken cruiser «Moscow», the shooting of civilians by the Russian troops and other war-related messages. The cases were merged and only the second part of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code remained in the indictment and was sent to court. Baryshnikov was the sole carer for his 97-year-old disabed mother, doctors suspect he has cancer himself. On June 22, 2023, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in a general regime penal colony. On August 7, Baryshnikov’s mother died. The court refused to let him attend the funeral. In September, the lawyer reported that due to the negligence of Federal Penitentiary Service officers, Baryshnikov was taken to hospital three hours late, and doctors there found that his bladder was overfilled and on the verge of bursting. It turned out that the epicystostomy tube in his abdomen, which has to be changed once a month, had last been changed on July 31 — the doctor who had done it was forced to resign and leave the country. After a mass appeal to the Kaliningrad regional prosecutor’s office, Baryshnikov resumed his medical examination. At the same time, his food parcels in the pre-trial detention centre are being damaged.

Baryshnikov is represented by OVD-Info attorney Maria Bontsler.

Shchuchye (Kurgan Oblast)

Vladimir Kuprin, 24.

Charges against him for spreading knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces on the grounds of political hatred (part 2, paragraph «e» of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) were triggered by certain information «discrediting the army» published on his personal social media page. Details of the case are unknown. In April 2023, the court refused to take Kuprin into custody. What measure of restriction was eventually chosen is not known. The case has already been handed to the court.

Krasnodar

Alexander Somryakov, an electrician.

The reason for his prosecution was a post about the Russian troops attacking a maternity hospital and the drama theater in Mariupol as well as committing a «mass slaughter of civilians» in Ukraine, including «killing 260 people in the little town of Bucha.» Somryakov pleaded partially guilty: he admitted having spread «false» information trying to «attract more subscribers, likes, and comments.» On April 4, 2023, he was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony.

Ulan-Ude (Buryatia)

Alexandra Garmazhapova, journalist and head of the anti-war foundation «Free Buryatia», 34.

Currently, Garmazhapova resides outside of Russia. At the end of January 2023, the Telegram channel «Empire of Truth» reported that a case against her had been opened under the article on disseminating knowingly false information for reasons of political hatred or enmity (Paragraph «D», Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). In February 2023, information appeared that she had been declared wanted. Apparently, shortly before that, the court ruled to arrest Garmazhapova in absentia. The website of the Supreme Court of Buryatia published the information that on 13 February, it was ruled to leave unchanged an earlier decision of the Sovetsky District Court of Ulan-Ude to take an unknown person into custody under the same paragraph of the same article. The reason of the case kwas Garmazhapova’s interview with the Ukrainian project «Groschi», in which she spoke about 17 Russian soldiers who refused to fight and were forcibly detained on the territory of the self-proclaimed LNR. The case is already in court.

Kotelnikovo (Volgograd Oblast)

Vasily Melnikov, 40.

The case against Melnikov was initiated for comments on social networks. Initially it was erroneously reported that the case had been brought under Part 1 of the article on «fakes», but it later emerged that Melnikov had been charged with deliberately spreading false information about the armed forces for reasons of political hatred (Paragraph «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, he made negative statements about Russia’s leadership and its political course and was a member of «a number of thematic groups and forums». Melnikov is in custody. The case is already in court. In 2017, Melnikov was sentenced to 320 hours of community service as a result of a case about public calls for actions against Russia’s territorial integrity (Part 2 of Article 208.1 of the Criminal Code). On social networks, he had suggested that Kotelnikovo become an autonomous region or a republic with its own government, bank system and currency.

Khasavyurt (Dagestan)

Shakhban Abakargadgiev, 53.

A criminal case for spreading «knowingly false information» about the Russian army with creating fake evidence was initiated against him for thoughts on the war in Ukraine that he published on one of his social media pages. Shakhban was released on his own recognizance not to leave the country. The case is already going through court.

Bezhetsk (Tver Oblast)

An unknown person

Details are unknown. No later than August 2023 it was decided to take them into custody.

Kurgan

Aleksey Shvarts, former coordinator of Navalny’s regional office, 26.

There were criminal cases initiated previously against him (according to Shvarts, a total of 5 cases), among them a case of violating the secrecy of correspondence and telephone conversations (Part 1, Article 138 of the Criminal Code) and draft evasion (Part 1, Article 328 of the Criminal Code). Shvarts left Russia in 2021. Details of the case of spreading deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces on the grounds of political hatred (Paragraph «E», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) are unknown, unknown, but the court’s press service said that the reason was the publication of a certain video on Telegram. On October 18, Shvarts was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison.

Kazan

Arseny Glebov, 28.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 208 of the Criminal Code.

 

 

In addition, the case on public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation motivated by hatred (clause «d» part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation), as well as on the public justification of terrorism (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation) and illegal possession of drugs in on a large scale (part 2 of article 228 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation) in relation to Vladimir Mitrofanov is being considered in the 1st Eastern District Military Court. Details unknown. On May 5, 2023, the sentence was pronounced, the details are unknown.

It is also known that a separate case was opened related to the distribution of anti-war leaflets in the post boxes of Murino, a satellite town of Saint Petersburg. A local resident was summoned for questioning but then released without charges. His status is unknown.

A case on disseminating deliberately false information about the Armed Forces with the use of one’s official position (Paragraph «A», Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) was initiated in Purovo district of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region in Siberia. As part of this case, a search was conducted no later than autumn 2022. Other details are unknown.

 

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Yalta

Andrey Samodurov, an Ministry of Emergency Situations employee.

According to the «Baza» Telegram channel, on March 14th, 2022, he went to the apartments of Yalta residents and reported on emergency evacuations, telling them that «the US had already sent missiles and planes» because of the war in Ukraine. On March 17th, Samodurov was detained; he was charged with spreading knowingly false information about the actions of the Russian armed forces using his official position (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The precautionary measure is unknown. On June 1st, 2022, Samodurov was sentenced to five years' probation. The case was heard in one sitting.

Kerch

Ilya Gantsevsky, former activist of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and the Young Guard of United Russia. Has a university degree in law. Worked as a salesman, 26.

A case was opened for an Instagram post made in April 2022 in which Gantsevsky denounced the shelling of the Kramatorsk train station by the Russian army. The court placed him under house arrest. In April, he was also detained because of a post, the court sentenced him to 14 days of arrest. On October 4th, he was arrested in absentia, his whereabouts are unknown.

He is defended by OVD-Info attorney Roman Kotenev.

 

Ukrainian TV presenters Dmytro Gordon and Maria Efrosinina were also prosecuted under this part of the article. The cases brought by the Russian authorities against Ukrainian public figures are, in our view, different from those mentioned in this guide, as they are examples of political propaganda rather than political persecution. Moreover, it is difficult to consider these cases as examples of persecution for anti-war statements. Nevertheless, we include the cases against these two individuals in the statistics because they involve the «anti-war» Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code. According to the investigation, Gordon 'called for an armed attack on the Russian Federation and unleashing a war of aggression against it with the use of nuclear weapons', 'publicly called for the destruction of citizens of the Russian Federation on the grounds of their nationality, language and origin' and 'knowingly disseminated false information about bombing and artillery shelling of civilian infrastructure and civilians by the armed forces of the Russian Federation under the guise of reliable reports'. He was also prosecuted under articles on public calls to unleash a war of aggression (Part 2, Article 354 of the Criminal Code) and on actions aimed at inciting hatred or enmity and humiliating the dignity of a person or group of persons on the grounds of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion and membership of a social group, committed in public, including through the media or information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet, using an official position (Paragraph «b», Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code) — several cases have been opened against other Ukrainian public figures under the same article. On July 19, 2022, Gordon was placed on the wanted list and arrested in absentia on July 22. On September 2, the Ministry of Justice added Gordon to the register of «foreign agents». The case against Efrosinina was opened on April 7, 2022 under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, in connection with publications on Instagram. On July 1, she was placed on the wanted list. In March 2023, the charge was reclassified as dissemination of knowingly false information with a hate motive (Paragraph «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On May 17, Efrosinina was arrested in absentia. On September 15, 2023, she was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison.

 

Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (part unknown)

Kazan

Kirill Alekhin, 41.

At first, Alekhin served 10 days of arrest after participating in an antiwar demonstration on February 24th, 2022, and was searched in relation to a case of inciting public disorder (Part 1.1, Article 212 of the Criminal Code, see above). Then he appeared to be a suspect in a case concerning the dissemination of false information about the Russian armed forces. The details of the case are unknown. Alekhin has left Russia.

Moscow

Ivan Zhdanov, 34, Kira Yarmysh, 33, Maria Pevchikh, 35, Ruslan Shaveddinov, 26, Leonid Volkov, 42, Dmitry Nizovtsev, 35, Liubov Sobol, 35, Alexey Navalny’s allies.

According to information from court-appointed lawyer that was posted on the Telegram channel Sirena, a case was opened for spreading knowingly false information about the Russian military and public justification of terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.) According to the most recent information, all have been charged under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code and Zhdanov, Shaveddinov and Volkov are charged with Article 205.2 as well. The case concerns statements the activists made on the YouTube channel Popular Politics. According to investigators, Zhdanov, Yarmysh, Pevchikh, Shaveddinov, Volkov, Nizovtsev and Sobol spread information about the crimes of the Russian army, Zhdanov and Shaveddinov made statements about arson at military recruitment offices, and Volkov justified harming the health of Vladimir Putin. On September 2nd, 2022, the Ministry of Justice placed Zhdanov on the «foreign agent» list, and on October 14th, the same happened with Nizovtsev and Yarmysh. Volkov, Sobol and Shaveddinov were already on the list before the case was opened.

Dmitry Ivanov (Kamikaze D), blogger, 36.

In 2017, he left Russia after one of his videos was flagged for encouraging suicide (Article 110.1 of the Criminal Code). The current case, according to unverified information, was a video in which Ivanov talked about the Russian airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater, and spoke negatively about a speech by Maria Zakharova, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On September 23, 2022, the Ministry of Justice placed Ivanov on the «foreign agent» list. He has also been placed on the wanted list.

Christo Grozev, Bulgarian investigative journalist, working with the Bellingcat investigative project, 53.

He is on the wanted list. According to RIA Novosti, a case was opened against him for spreading knowingly false information about the military. Details are unknown. Previously Grozev had already been placed on the wanted list for alleged involvement in the hijacking of Russian military aircraft organized by Ukrainian intelligence in collaboration with British intelligence services.

On the same day, he was arrested in absentia on a charge of crossing the border illegaly, details unknown.

Konstantin Sonin, economist, professor at the University of Chicago, formerly lecturer and vice-rector of the Higher School of Economics, 51.

According to the investigative bodies, «having been in a disagreement with the Russian foreign and domestic policy for a long time, on three occasions posted on his personal Telegram channel. According to experts, the posts contain information about the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation». Sonin is currently outside of Russia. On May 25, 2023, it became known that he was put on the wanted list.

Ilya Novikov, lawyer, 41.

Ever since 2019, Novikov has lived and worked in Ukraine. He has repeatedly spoken out against the war. Details of the criminal case are unknown. In December 2022, Novikov was put on the wanted list. On May 30, 2023, the Moscow bar association disbarred him.

In October 2023, it was reported that a case of high treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) had been brought against Novikov.

Murmansk

Violetta Grudina, former coordinator of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters, 33.

The details of this case are unknown. Grudina has repeatedly and publicly spoken out against the war. She was put on an international wanted list and was arrested in absentia.

Additionally, two more criminal cases were opened against Grudina: for violating sanitary and epidemiological rules (investigators believe that she conducted an election campaign and communicated with people while sick with COVID-19) and for establishing an extremist community in connection with the activities of the Navalny HQ.

Novosibirsk

Kirill Levchenko, ex-candidate of the Berdsk city council (Novosibirsk region), 40.

Levchenko believes that the criminal case brought forward against him was launched because of a video he posted on Instagram with a «copter flying above Borodyanka, ” a quote by Putin, and some questions the activist had. Levchenko has left Russia. His parents who live in Krasnoyarsk region were interrogated. He is on the wanted list.

Saint Petersburg

Unknown, former military personnel. According to the investigation, after the start of the war, he created a Telegram channel where he reported crimes of Russian Armed Forces in the Ukraine. The channel had 140 subscribers.

Settlement Vanino (Khabarovsk Krai)

Anatoly Lanchekov, former serviceman, 58.

For further information see the section on Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

 

 

A case has also been opened in Barnaul concerning a post on the Telegram channel Antiputintsy from March 17th, 2022, about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine.

 

Discrediting the armed forces (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code: Repeat discrediting of the armed forces

Public actions directed at discrediting the use of the Russian armed forces for the purposes of defending the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, supporting international peace and security, or at discrediting the exercising by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers for the indicated purposes, as well as at discrediting the provision by volunteer formations, organisations or individuals of assistance in the performance of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Cases regarding this part of the article are filed when a person has been found guilty according to an analogous administrative article (20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) within the previous year. Punishable with up to five years in prison. This article was introduced into the Criminal Code in March 2022, the provision on the activities of state bodies abroad was added in April, and the provision on volunteer formations and assistance to the Armed Forces in March 2023. Initially, the maximum penalty was three years' imprisonment; in March 2023, the penalty was increased.

Nalchik

Zaurbek Zhambekov

According to investigators, he directed his daughter to tear off a sticker with a letter Z from someone’s car. It turned out that the owner of the car was a police officer. A charge has also been launched concerning the involvement of underaged persons in commiting a crime (Part 2, Article 150 of the Criminal Code). In March 2022, Zhambekov received a 30 thousand ruble fine concerning an administrative violation concerning the discreditation of the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) due to posts on social media. In April, Zhambekov was summoned to the Center for Counteracting Extremism and was shown a video recording of a girl tearing off a sticker. After the conversation, a report was drawn up on Zhambekov for disobedience to the lawful demands of a police officer (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), following which the court arrested him for five days. While Zhambekov was under arrest, a criminal case was opened against him. On June 24th, 2022, he received a two years conditional sentence and was fined 30 thousand rubles with the option to make payments in instalments.

Batyr Zhaboev, 36.

According to the investigation, he published a video on Instagram in which he spoke about the killing of civilians in Chechnya and Ukraine committed by the Russian army and called those actions fascist and invasive. Zhaboev is on personal recognizance not to leave the country. In July 2022, he was fined 30 thousand rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) for his publications on Instagram. On August 30, 2023, the court gave Zhaboyev a one-year suspended sentence.

Kemerovo

Vladimir Latypov, entrepreneur.

The charge is in relation to conducting a single-picket solo protest. Information about the charge appeared on April 25th, 2022, and precautionary measures in the case are unknown. Latypov has already been twice found guilty in connection to an analogous administrative article (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) also for conducting solo-picket protests. One of the resulting sentences came into effect on April 18th. According to unconfirmed reports, he has left Russia.

Ivanovka village (Amur oblast)

Vladislav Nikitenko, activist, 53.

The charge is in relation to 10 posts made on social media. The activist had already been found guilty per an analogous administrative article (20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and fined 45 thousand rubles. On February 24th, 2022, Nikitenko wrote official letters to all regional military investigation departments of the Investigative Committee and the prosecutor’s office of the Russian Federation, accusing Vladimir Putin and the members of the Security Council of starting a war in Ukraine. Other details of the case are unknown. He was under house arrest. On July 9 Nikitenko was placed into custody because he had allegedly used his mobile phone. In September, Nikitenko started a hunger strike to protest the fact that his pre-trial detention period was extended. In addition to the charge for repeat discrediting, the case also included the charge for insulting participants in the court hearing (Part 1, Article 297 of the Criminal Code) and four charges for insulting the judge (Part 2, Article 297 of the Criminal Code). Further details of the insult cases remain unknown. Initially, the Blagoveshchensk City Court was supposed to hear the case, but since its judges are interested parties in the charges under Part 2, Article 297 of the Criminal Code, the case was transferred to the Ivanovo District Court, On January 31st, 2023, Nikitenko was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. On June 14, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence by one month.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Vladimir Efimov, 68, journalist, head of the local office of the Yabloko political party.

He has been detained. Allegedly, during a search, he gave out 2 gas pistols and 5 bullets that he had illegally stored. He had already twice received fines of 30 thousand rubles as per an administrative article on the discreditation of the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The details of the case are unknown. The court administered a ban of certain activities as a precautionary measure. On March 31, 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of 200,000 rubles.

Alexander Kamenyuk, ex-head of a local office of «Spravedlivaya Rossiya», 43.

Detained on June 15th, 2022. The local MIA office reported that the case has been launched in connection to a post by Kamenyuk in a messenger app on May 24th. It was later revealed that there were two episodes in the case. Previously, the activist had been a subject in at least two administrative cases on discrediting the Russian army (20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences.) One of them concerned a video posted most likely on Facebook or Instagram. The court has already processed the case and fined Kamenyuk 50 thousand rubles. By the time the criminal case was launched, there had been no information on the court decision coming into force. The court barred Kamenyuk from engaging in certain actions. In September 2022, security forces arrested Kamenyuk for an alleged attempt to «flee from investigative authorities» and held in jail for two days. In November, the court put him into pre-trial detention for violating the previously imposed pre-trial restrictions and failure to attend appointed meetings with the investigator. Later Kamenyuk was placed under house arrest. On March 15, 2023, the court sentenced him to a fine of 450,000 rubles. Taking into account the time spent in custody, the amount was reduced to 100,000 rubles. The verdict also stated that «the seized property was levied against the payment of this amount» — but it was not known what property had been seized from Kamenyuk.

Since January 2023, the court has also been hearing the case of insulting a representative of the authorities (Article 319 of the Criminal Code) and slander (Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code) brought against Kamenyuk and journalist Georgy Filatov over a YouTube video about the work of the Kamchatka regional prosecutor’s office.

Nizhny Novgorod

Andrey Sorochkin, activist in the local branch of the Yabloko political party, 60.

According to investigators, he put a poster with the text «No to the shameful war» on the back window of his car. On May 13th, 2022, he was arrested by the traffic police and informed that a criminal case had been initiated against him. In April, Sorochkin was fined 40,000 for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). His pre-trial restrictions were a ban on engaging in certain activities.

Later, it was reported that another case was launched against Sorochkin under the same article in connection to a sign that read «For the ruins of Mariupol, we filled Ukraine with corpses?», which had been found in his apartment during a search. The sign was hung in Sorochkin’s office. The police press service stated Sorochkin had tried to flee the country, which resulted in his detention and placement under house arrest. The cases were combined. The court is processing them. On September 20th, 2022, he was sentenced to a fine in the sum of 200,000.

Ilya Myaskovsky, teacher, photographer, activist, 51.

According to the investigation, Myaskovsky administers the group «Nizhny Novgorod Civic Movement» on VKontakte. He is accused of making posts in this group about anti-war protests, graffiti, as well as of laying flowers at the place of journalist Irina Slavina’s self-immolation. In connection with the same case, the security forces visited the group moderator Andrey Rudoy who lives in Dzerzhinsk and Gleb Kalinychev from Nizhny Novgorod (twice), as well as his brother Dmitri Kalinychev. The police filed a report accusing Myaskovsky under Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences (disobeying a lawful order of the police) stating that he did not state his name to the police during the search. Later he was arrested for 3 days. On October 10th, 2022, a court ordered a ban on certain actions as a pre-trial restriction. On April 8th that same year Myaskovsky was convicted under the Code of Administrative Offences article for discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3). The case is already in the court.

He is defended by OVD-Info attorney Alexey Matasov.

Verkhoturye (Sverdlovsk region)

Hieromonk Nikandr (Evgeny Pinchuk), a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad under the supervision of Metropolitan Agafangel.

According to investigators, he called the actions of the Russian military «invasive» in a post on social media platform vk.com. Prior to this, the hieromonk had already been fined at least once under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences for commenting on social media criticizing a prayer service for the victory of the Russian troops. The decision came into force, Nikandr did not pay the fine on time and he was sentenced to compulsory labor. On the 17th of October, 2022, he was fined 100,000 rubles as punishment for the criminal charge.

Tula

Andrey Pavlov, 38.

The case concerns seven posts on VKontakte that criticize the war in Ukraine, as well as a solo protest at Lenin Square on July 29th, 2022, with a sign that read «Нет ***не! No **r! HI ***нi» [«No war» in Russian, English and Ukrainian]. At the end of March 2022, Pavlov was fined for discrediting the military (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) for wearing a jacket with a Ukrainian flag, a red-black flag that the court described as a «Cossack protest banner, ” and writing that said „Putin stop war.“ The decision has come into force. The criminal case was brought to court, but on March 3, 2023, the hearing was suspended due to Pavlov’s disappearance. He was placed on the wanted list and arrested in absentia. On July 5, Pavlov was detained in Astana, but released the next day.

He is defended by OVD-Info attorneys Yulia Tregubova and Yulia Evdokimova.

Yakutsk

Aikhal Ammosov (Igor Ivanov), 31.

According to investigators, he put a banner that discredited the Russian armed forces on the roof of a building in Yakutsk. The banner read «Yakutian punk against war.» On August 13th, 2022, the activist along with his friend were detained attempting to hang this banner on a building roof in Yakutsk. Ammosov stated that they were interrogated, their phones were taken and they were threatened with criminal charges. Starting on August 17th, the court placed him in detention for 15 days. On September 3rd, he was again placed in detention, this time for refusing to pay the fine (Code of Administrative Offences Article 20.25). On September 10th, as he was being released from the previous arrest, he was placed in detention for another 15 days for failure to pay the fine. It was also reported that he signed an agreement not to leave. Previously he had been fined three times each for 30,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian armed forces. The investigator requested that Ammosov be placed in pre-trial detention, but the court rejected the request. The case has been transferred to the court to be heard on its merits. On December 14th it became known that Ammosov had gone missing. His friend claims that Ammosov was not planning to leave and «really wanted to appear in court». Later Ammosov’s relatives published his letter dated November 22nd, in which he wrote that disclosure of the letter means that he either has disappeared or has been killed. In January 2023, Ammosov announced that he is in Kazakhstan. He was put on the wanted list. In addition, his name appeared on the Federal Financial Monitoring Service’s (Rosfinmonitoring) list of extremists and terrorists, with a tag placed on the names of those prosecuted under the terrorist article. The reason why his case was brought under this particular article is unknown. In October, Ammosov was taken into custody in Kazakhstan and his extradition to Russia is being considered.

Anatoly Nogovitsyn, head of local Yabloko party office, 35.

The case was initiated in connection to a video message regarding the military draft which Putin announced on September 21st, 2022. At first it was mistakenly reported that Nogovitsyn signed an agreement not to leave the city while, in fact, the court ordered a ban on certain activities. On April 13th, 2022, Nogovitsyn was fined 30,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for reposting a video by journalist Elena Kostyuchenko from Nikolaev. Nogovitsyn commented on the video saying «‘Liberated’ Berdyansk and Kherson, local residents clearly not happy with liberation.» In November, the ban on certain activities was lifted after no court hearing took place to extend it. Nonetheless, on December 2nd, the pre-trial restriction was prolonged. Two witnesses at one of the hearings said that they had been forced to sign an act of operational activity in which they had not participated: they had not seen Nogovitsyn’s video and the disc that the officers were supposed to seal in their presence, and the police had told them before the hearing exactly what to say in court. On March 21, 2023, the court fined Nogovitsyn 280,000 rubles, but reduced the amount to 200,000 rubles, taking into account the time spent under a prohibition of certain activities.

Yekaterinburg

Evgeny Roizman, former mayor of Yekaterinburg, 60.

Detained in Yekaterinburg in the early morning on August 24th, 2022. His house, the Nevyanskaya Icon Museum that he founded, and the office of his charitable fund were searched. Icons were confiscated from the museum based on unverified reports of theft. Roizman managed to tell journalists that the charges were brought against him because he used the words «the invasion of Ukraine.» As it became known on March 28, 2023, the reason for the case was a stream on the politician’s YouTube channel dated July 1, 2022. Before the criminal case was initiated, Roizman was repeatedly fined for discrediting the use of the Russian military (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for statements about the war on Twitter. According to official sources, the case was initiated in Moscow. It was initially reported that Roizman would be transferred there, though later it was clarified that he would stay in Yekaterinburg. The court imposed the pre-trial restriction of a ban on certain activities. On November 25th, he was placed on the register of «foreign agents». On March 16, 2023, Roizman was arrested for 14 days over a post in his support group on VKontakte in which the symbols of FBK, recognised as an extremist organisation, were found. Roizman himself claims that he never used VKontakte. On May 19, 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of 260,000 rubles (formally the fine was 280,000 rubles, but this was reduced for the time spent under restriction).

Novouralsk (Sverdlovsk region)

Alexander Skryabnev, entrepreneur, 51.

He was charged three times for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of antiwar statements made on social media and antiwar messages written on a building that he owns. He was fined 30,000 rubles for one of these offenses. After that, Skryabnev commented on the court decision on his VKontakte page and stated that Russia «is moving toward the Third Reich.» This caused a criminal case to be opened. Skryabnev’s house was searched and he signed an agreement not to leave the city. Skryabnev died on October 6, 2022.

Kopeysk (Chelyabinsk region)

Pyotr Borovinskikh, 46.

In August 2022, a case concerning disrespecting days of military celebration and other commemorations related to defending the Fatherland (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code) was opened against Borovinskikh because of anti-war posts on VKontakte. According to investigators, he posted videos that «distorted the holding of the annual official parade on Red Square.» In September, another case was opened for discrediting the use of the Russian military (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, he posted on the VKontakte page «Kopeysk without Putin’s fascism» «information, in which the activities of the Russian military were characterized as terrorist.» These two cases were combined into one. On April 6th, Borovinskikh was fined 45,000 rubles for discrediting the military (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for posts from March 2nd and 9th.

In addition, a case was opened against Borovinskikh for disseminating false information about the Russian military (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), see above.

Ivanovo

Olga Nazarenko, pharmacist, activist, 47.

On September 20th, 2022, her workplace and her home were searched. The criminal case concerned flyers about military crimes in Bucha, Irpen and other Ukrainian cities. According to investigators, Nazarenko put up flyers on September 6th. The police detained her but later let her go without writing up a police report. They added that Nazarenko is being investigated for putting up antiwar flyers and displaying a Ukrainian flag on her balcony. During her arrest, the investigator confiscated Nazarenko’s work laptop. In May, Nazarenko had already been fined 40,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 Code of Administrative Offences) because of a solo protest holding a poster with a quote by Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko.

On October 18th, 2022, it became known that Nazarenko is the subject of a criminal case for repeated violations of the procedure for holding public events (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code). The case was opened after her single person picket on September 10th in support of those persecuted because of their anti-war stance — Alexandra Skochilenko, Olga Smirnova, Viktoria Petrova, Maria Ponomarenko and Ilya Yashin. On the date of the picket, there were already three court ruling against Nazarenko for violating the procedures for holding public events (Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences) that had come into force and are required before a criminal case under Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code can be opened: each of them for single person pickets held in February 2022. Two of the pickets were against the war, the other, held on February 13th, was in support of Nikita Uvarov, who was convicted in the «Kansk teenagers» case. Nazarenko has signed an agreement not to leave the city. The two cases were later combined. In January 2023, Nazarenko had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The case is already in court. On August 22, 2023, after the court session, Nazarenko was detained and taken to the police station, where they drew up a report for repeated violation of the order of holding public events (Part 8, Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) because of the action in defence of freedom of speech held by Ivanovo activists in the local park. Nazarenko was released from the courtroom and the report was returned to the police.

In addition, in March 2022, Nazarenko’s actions were also investigated to determine whether they constituted a crime under Article 319 of the Criminal Code — insulting the authorities. However, no case was opened.

Nazarenko was suspended from teaching at the Ivanovo State Medical Academy.

Olga Nazarenko died in October 2023.

Mikhail Gusev, 23.

He has left Russia. According to investigators, his post in his Telegram channel contained a «negative assessment of the Russian army, and concurrently accused the army of committing violence against Ukrainian civilians.» Novaya Gazeta Evropa reported that the case was launched in response to a post by Gusev’s in which he reacted to plans to launch another case against him — this one related to military service evasion. «It seems that Ivanovo military draft office got really upset that I left Russia and did not feel like joining the army of fascists and occupiers who kill civilians and bomb their houses» — Gusev wrote. In June 2022, he was fined 45,000 rubles for discrediting the use of the Russian armed forces (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Criminal Code) because of his poster «*** *****.» In connection to the criminal case, on October 5th, 2022, searches were conducted in Ivanovo, Moscow, Pskov, Perm and Chelyabinsk, mostly at the houses of people related to the election observers’ movement «Golos». At least one other search took place on March 7, 2023, at the home of Vladimir Zhilkin, a member of the movement in Tambov.

Stanislav Rumyantsev, 36.

It was originally reported that the case was opened because of the message «No to war! No to fascism! Putin is a murderer» written on the façade of the Russian president’s reception building, but it later emerged that Rumyantsev had written the text on a poster he carried to the United Russia reception office. According to the latest reports, Rumyantsev is charged not only with discrediting the Russian army, but also with vandalism motivated by political hatred (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code). In total, there are three episodes in the case: writing a message on the building of the United Russia chairman’s reception room on February 24, which qualifies as vandalism; displaying a poster outside the same building on the same day, which qualifies as discrediting the Armed Forces; writing a message on the building of the president’s reception room on February 26, which qualifies as vandalism on both counts. On March 1, all these episodes were combined into one criminal case. The court imposed a ban on certain actions as a measure of restriction on him. In July 2022, Rumyantsev was fined 30,000 rubles (~$490) under a similar Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code because of an anti-war statement on 9 May Victory Day — a national holiday marking victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. In the summer of 2023, it became known that Rumyantsev had died.

Dmitry Silin, activist.

In the spring of 2022, Dmitry with an activist Anastasia Rudenko distributed over 600 free copies of George Orwell’s dystopian novels «1984» and «Animal Farm» as well as Leo Tolstoy’s novella «Hadji Murat» about the Caucasus War to the residents of Ivanovo. The reason for initiating the criminal case was his comment under a news post on the Telegram channel «IvanovoNEWS | Bars» regarding the opening of memorial plaques on the wall of a local school. These plaques were established in honour of graduates who died as military personnel in Ukraine. Silin wrote, «The names of killers should not be displayed in schools. School principals, fear God. You fear that crazy Putin more. The Putin gang has made you poor and submissive cattle. If you refuse to display the plaques of the killers, at most you will be removed from your principal position, but your conscience will remain clear, and your children will respect you.» In May 2022, he was fined 30,000 rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The reason for the accusation was a report made by an elderly person who informed the police that Silin had written «No War!» on the wall of a building. The activist claimed that he was not guilty of the offence. Silin has left Russia.

Ivanovo region (city unknown)

An unidentified man

The reason for initiating the case was several posts published on VKontakte in the autumn of 2022. Details are unknown. According to the regional FSB, earlier that man was repeatedly held liable under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

Petrozavodsk

Tatyana Savinkina, 78.

Formerly worked for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A criminal case was opened concerning anti-war flyers which Savinkina allegedly distributed at her apartment building on July 31st, 2022. Prior to that, she had been fined three times for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The first fine of 30,000 rubles came after she was denounced by the head of the apartment owners association. The head complained to the police that Savinkina posted flyers saying «Putin, leave Ukraine alone» in the stairwell of the apartment building. The second time Savinkina was fined 15,000 rubles for writing graffiti on a bus stop about the war. The police filed a report after Savinkina was denounced by a 9th-grade student. The third time Savinkina was fined 15,000 rubles because she allegedly posted flyers containing words «insulting to the President» on the bulletin board in the entrance to an apartment building.

In October 2022, another case was opened against Savinkina under the same article. This time it was for a flyer that she allegedly posted in the elevator of an apartment building on September 24th. The flyer stated the number of «young men» who «returned to Russia in coffins.» It also said that «a huge number of children and elderly people have died» in Ukraine.

Person wishing to remain anonymous, 46.

The case was opened for a post on VKontakte. He was searched and interrogated, but not detained. Previously he was charged with discrediting the Russian military (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and fined 30,000 rubles, also for a post on VKontakte.

The person is represented by OVD-Info lawyer Konstantin Koscheev.

Natalya Kuklina

Details are unknown. On December 23, 2022, court imposed on her a measure of restriction in the form of a ban on certain actions. During the spring and summer of 2022, court received on eight occasions materials related to the administrative cases on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) against Natalya Kuklina. Amid the reasons behind the cases were anti-war leaflets, stickers, and posts on VK social network. She received a fine on three of these occasions, the rest of the administrative cases were terminated or returned to the police for revision. In August 2023, a car was seized from Kuklina because of messages «discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation».

Lomonosov (Saint Petersburg and Leningrad region)

Dmitry Skurikhin, entrepreneur, activist, 48.

On September 23rd, 2022, his house was searched. The attorney signed a non-disclosure agreement. According to human rights defender Dinar Idrisov, the reason for instigation of a criminal case was an anti-war poster placed on the facade of Skurikhin’s shop in Russko-Vysotskoye. The poster was put up on September 21. It was taken down by the police (presumably after a report on legal violations had been submitted). Presumably, an administrative case under a similar article (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) was first opened on the basis of the poster. The case was immediately dismissed and a criminal case opened, as Skurikhin had already been fined in May under an administrative article on defamation for an anti-war video on his Telegram channel. NetFreedoms reported that the case was based on a specific anti-war Telegram post and photos of anti-war graffiti on a shop. On September 23rd, the court ordered a ban on certain actions. Skurikhin owns a grocery store in which he wrote anti war slogans and names of Ukrainian cities that suffered from Russian shelling. In April, unknown persons wrote «traitor» on the door of the grocery store, hung a sign «Nazism will not be forgiven», and threw manure on the entrance. In December, searches were conducted in the house of Skurikhin, as well as at the house of a Saint Petersburg resident Anastasia Makarova, who claims that she is not acquainted with him.

On the anniversary of the start of the war, the media circulated a photo of Skurikhin kneeling outside his shop with a poster saying «Forgive us, Ukraine». Later, police officers drove up to the house where the family was celebrating his parents' wedding anniversary. They questioned Skurikhin and left. After the party, the relatives drove Skurikhin to another location, with a police car following them. When the relatives returned, the police officers told them that they should not have taken Skurikhin away, as this could provoke searches and increased restrictions. On February 26 it emerged that Skurikhin had been detained, and a court subsequently remanded him in custody on a new criminal charge of discrediting the Armed Forces over the poster rally. On April 21, he was placed under house arrest. The cases were merged and the circumstances considered to be one continuous episode. On August 3, 2023, he was sentenced to one and a half years in a general regime penal colony.

Novorossiysk

Askhabali Alibekov, aka «Wild paratrooper, ” host of the eponymous YouTube channel, 51.

He was detained on September 9th, 2022, and a case was opened in relation to a video in which «a set of psychological and linguistic signs of the addressee’s belief in the negative use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, i.e. discrediting it, as well as a set of psychological and linguistic signs of encouragement (including in the form of an appeal) to oppose the functioning of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, acting to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintaining international peace and security» were seen. At first, there was information that he signed an agreement not to leave the city. Later it was reported that a court ordered a ban on certain actions. On September 29th, it became known that Alibekov had been placed in pre-trial detention after refusing to put on an electronic tracking bracelet. In July 2022, the blogger was fined 50,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for a video showing a solo protest at the city square. Kavkaz.Realii reported that the man had been fined under this Article twice and the Investigation Committee also noted in its press release that the accused had been subject to administrative liability in March. Initially, it was assumed that this was about the video «Who will save Russia», in which Alibekov criticised the Special Military Operation, uses the word «war» and appeals for peace. However, the bill of indictment referred to the video «Putin must resign», released on March 16, 2022, in which Alibekov allegedly «publicly called for obstructing the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation outside the territory of the Russian Federation», as the material that gave rise to the prosecution under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences. Alibekov pleaded guilty and motioned to have the case heard in a shortened procedure, but the court denied the motion. On March 23, 2023, he was sentenced to one year and two months in a strict regime penal colony. At the end of April, Alibekov told his wife that he had been beaten by staff at the pre-trial detention centre.

Alibekov is represented by OVD-Info lawyer Marina Dubrovina.

Askhabali (Askhab, Askhat) Alibekov gained fame as a blogger in February 2018. During his military service, he recorded a video message to the president in which he accused the president of concealing the number of Russians who died during the conflict in Ukraine. Alibekov was fired from the Navy after posting this video.

A year earlier, a court sentenced Alibekov to three years of probation. The court’s website states that a soldier, who was a deputy platoon commander, hit his subordinate in the face and broke his jaw. Alibekov admitted his guilt. After he posted the video message, his probation was turned into an actual sentence in July 2018.

In March 2018, the blogger shared that he and his relatives received threats. After that he was arrested for 10 days for disobeying a lawful police order (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

In prison a criminal case was opened against Alibekov for disrupting the activities of the correctional institution and insulting a representative of the authorities. On September 9th 2020, he was sentenced to two years and two months in a maximum security prison. On November 24th, an appeal court overturned the part of the sentence that was for insulting a representative of the authorities and changed Alibekov’s sentence to one year and two months in a maximum security prison.

Naberezhnye Chelny

Albert Mansurov, 39.

The case was opened for an anti-war post on VKontakte. On May 8th, 2022, Mansurov flew to Dubai. On September 19th, he was placed on the federal wanted list. On April 29th, 2022, he conducted a solo picket in front of the Naberezhnye Chelny town hall. The police detained him for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) connecting it to his post on VKontakte. On May 4th, he was found guilty, the verdict is unknown.

Dmitry Slabkovsky

According to the investigation, he posted several comments in the social media group «Science and facts | What will happen if…?» that attracted the attention of law enforcement officers: «Defence of one’s own, but not occupation of the territory of another state», «There can be no referendums in the occupied territories», «Ukrainians are defending their homes and families. Russians are aggressors and occupiers». In May 2022, Slabkovsky was fined 30,000 rubles under a similar administrative article (Part 1, Article 20.3.3.3 of the Administrative Code). On September 13, 2023, the court sentenced him to a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Izhma (Komi)

Alexey Semenov, environmental activist, 55.

The case was opened for a post on VKontakte which started with the words «Izhma is rehearsing to receive Cargo 200 [Russian war dead].» In May 2022, he was fined 30,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of a post on VKontakte: in the text, he wrote the number of children who had died in Ukraine at that moment. At the end of September, he was arrested for 5 days for failure to pay his fine (Part 1, Article 20.25 of the Code of Administrative Offences), after which he was immediately arrested again for 10 days for failure to follow the lawful orders of the police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). On October 13th, he was taken straight from the pre-trial detention center to investigators. After that, he was placed under house arrest. Later he was accused of six instances of violating his house arrest. Semenov’s wife testified that all violations were due to losing the connection to the electronic bracelet he was wearing. They coincided with the times when her husband showered with soap. She added that the radius of permissible distance from the device was only seven meters instead of the recommended 50 or 100. Later, he was accused of two additional violations–his wife claims that he was sleeping at home when the connection with the electronic bracelet was lost. The case is already in the court. Semenov pleaded guilty during the investigation, but retracted his confession at the trial and waived the special procedure.

Arkhangelsk

Yulia Chapurina, activist.

In 2019, she participated in demonstrations against the construction of a landfill in Shiyes. The case was triggered by the reposting of a video of a cargo plane filled with the bodies of dead Russian soldiers. The caption to the video said that Muscovites die in Ukraine much less often than Dagestanis, Buryats or Tuvans. The court ordered a ban on certain activities as a pre-trial restriction. On January 10, 2023, the court sentenced Chapurina to a fine of 130,000 rubles. In April 2022, she was fined 40,000 and 35,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for placing a cross in memory of the victims in Mariupol and for an anti-war picket on 8th of March, respectively.

Olesya Krivtsova, student at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University.

On December 26th, her home was searched and she was subsequently detained. It was later reported that a case had been opened for repeat discrediting of the Russian military (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) and public justification of terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The case under the Article for repeat discrediting of the army was opened for reposts of anti-war publications by activist Ilya Leshukov on «VKontakte, ” while the case of public justification of terrorism was opened based on Instagram stories that mentioned the Crimean Bridge explosion. The court imposed a prohibition of certain activities as her pre-trial restriction. On May 30, Krivtsova was fined 30,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian military (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for an anti-war leaflet. The decision has gone into effect. On January 3, 2023, Krivtsova was detained because tickets to leave Russia had been purchased in her name. Her group of supporters claims that neither she nor any of her relatives bought the tickets. The next day, the court placed her under house arrest. On January 22nd, Krivtsova’s tracking bracelet went off three times in error. Krivtsova’s husband, Ilya Melkov, was called in to the university where an officer of the Center for Combatting Extremism forced him to say on camera that Krivtsova’s family did not consider the people who were witnesses in her case to be snitches. On March 15, it became known that Krivtsova had left Russia. The investigator then began to threaten her family. Krivtsova was put on the wanted list and arrested in absentia.

Sochi

Vladimir Atamanchuk, 71.

The indictment document states that on September 4th, 2022, he went out with flyers saying that the majority of Sochi residents are pacifists, and that the government prosecutes people with alternative opinions. Atamanchuk signed an agreement not to leave the city. In May, he was fined twice for discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for distributing anti-war flyers. On September 8th, the court ordered that Atamanchuk be jailed for 5 days for disobeying lawful orders of the police (Part 1, Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Prior to that he was held in the police station for more than a day with police threatening to open a criminal case against him. Atamanchuk said to Kavkazsky Uzel that while he was in detention, «the security forces looked for something» at his house. In March, Atamanchuk was also arrested for 10 days for organizing an «unauthorized» protest (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Atamanchuk also spoke of pressure and threats from the investigator and of his deteriorating health. It was later revealed that he had been hospitalised. In March 2023, Atamanchuk said that the investigator threatened to put him in the basement if he defended himself and refused to sign the documents required by the investigation. He also said that the investigator refused to make an inventory of the items returned after the search. Later, Atamanchuk also reported that the investigator, threatening him with arrest, forced him to take the laptop along with his mobile phone against receipt, while the defendant claimed that the phone did not belong to him.

Marina Melikhova, a supporter of «Citizens of the USSR», 51.

Her home was searched on June 21, 2023 and she was afterward taken for interrogation. Melikhova was taken into custody. She told Caucasian Knot reporters that she connected her prosecution to anti-war videos she had published on social media. Melikhova was charged for two publications on VKontakte: a video entitled «Shocking news! There is not a single official published document of the Russian Federation about the SMO in Ukraine», and a post with the text «Slavs do not want war!» In August 2023, she reported that another episode had appeared in the case: the publication on the Telegram channel of public activist Mikhail Nazarenko saying «In Tokmak the occupiers' base was blown up». According to Melikhova, Nazarenko briefly renamed his channel without her knowledge, and it was called by her name. In 2022 Melikhova had at least three police reports drawn against her under the administrative article on discrediting the Russian military (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for her statements against the war made on a YouTube channel. Krasnodar’s Leninsky district court imposed two fines on her in the amount of 30 thousand rubles (app. $330) each, and the court decisions have entered into force.

Back in 2022, Melikhova was released from prison after serving a sentence for public calls for extremism on the Internet (part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). The criminal case against her was filed for a video titled «On May 9, 2020 Putin’s regime may come to an end!» that she had posted on VKontakte. Melikhova, who at the time served as the head of the «Council of the Citizens of the USSR of the Prikubanski District of Krasnodar, ” was sentenced to 3.5 years in a penal colony. After that, the „Council of the Citizens of the USSR“ was declared an extremist organization.

Verkhny Mamon village (Voronezh Oblast)

Evgeny Tronev, 41.

The investigation believes that in June and July, he reposted «discrediting» materials to a «channel available to an uncertain circle of persons, ” which he ran in an unidentified messenger app. Law enforcement officers broke into Tronev’s house; he was detained and confessed. In April 2022, he was fined 15 thousand rubles for a similar administrative offense (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) in connection to a comment on VKontakte social media platform. On May 29, 2023, Tronev was given a two-year suspended sentence and compulsory observation and treatment by a psychiatrist on an outpatient basis. The prosecutor appealed against the sentence, arguing that under the wording of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, which was in force at the time of the publication of Tronev’s posts, the offence in question fell into the category of petty crimes and Tronev could not be sentenced to imprisonment because he had no previous convictions. On September 7, the Court of Appeal acknowledged that the trial court had erred in classifying the offence as of medium gravity (in accordance with the later wording of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). The suspended sentence was replaced by a fine of 100,000 rubles, and the decision to impose compulsory medical measures was not excluded from the verdict.

Tomsk

Anna Chagina, musician, 43 years old.

The case was opened based on her posts and comments on VKontakte. Chagina was detained. At the time of the search, Chagina’s daughter had a high fever and was taken with Anna for questioning; her daughter was later taken by ambulance to hospital with pneumonia. As a pre-trial restriction, the court imposed a ban on certain activities. On March 14, 2022, Chagina was fined 45,000 rubles for the same administrative offense (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) in connection with her detention on March 6 at an anti-war rally. On August 7, 2023, Chagina was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Leonid Rybakov, IT-company CEO.

A search was conducted in his house on 27 February 2023. Rybakov said that the security forces removed a book by the murdered politician Boris Nemtsov, who was killed on the same day in 2015, in addition to his computers. A criminal case was initiated due to his comments on «VKontakte». An unknown user had posted a photo of Sergey Surovikin, (the former Russian commander in Ukraine) on Rybakov’s page in December 2022. Rybakov posted two comments: «Ghouls are briefly untied from their bunk. Admire in all their glory» and «Cattle first — Syrian butcher and general of retreat attacks». Rybakov had been fined twice for discrediting the Russian Army: 35,000 rubles (463 USD) for participating in an anti-war protest and 40,000 rubles (529 USD) for hanging the Ukrainian flag and s poster «Russia without Putin» in his apartment.

A criminal case about calls to extremism has also been initiated against Rybakov (please see below).

Balakhta (Krasnoyarsk Territory)

Georgy Zykov, 59.

The case was opened for his posts on VKontakte social network. According to official sources, Zykov confessed. On October 3, 2022, the security forces came to his address to conduct a search, confiscating equipment and personal weapons. Most likely, the search took place due to posts on social networks, but Zykov did not know which case the police searched his home for, since he was not present during the search. On October 31, Zykov’s house was searched again, after which he was taken to a holding cell for ‘two or three days, ’ according to his friend Marina. The court put him under house arrest but later changed his pre-trial restriction to a ban on certain activities–he was prohibited from using the internet. On May 30, 2022, the Balakhta District Court fined Zykov 30,000 rubles for discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) for a post on VKontakte in which he condemned the war and those he called «Russian patriots», and also asked for forgiveness from the people of Ukraine. The decision has come into force. After that, according to investigators, he changed his name on VKontakte to Roman Varygin (the name of the Balakhtinsky District prosecutor). Law enforcement officials say that he then continued to make posts discrediting the Russian Army. There are two episodes in the case; the reason for the case were several posts on VKontakte, in one of which Zykov referred to the war as «occupationist» and in another he wrote that Russia was «destroying the gene pool in an unnecessary conflict»; in addition, in three publications of the Balakhta News group, he discussed the Commander-in-Chief’s order to send Russian troops into Ukraine and the feelings of Ukrainians.

Zykov was also charged with insulting a judge (Part 1, Article 298.1 of the Criminal Code) in connection with a video posted on VKontakte. The video claims that Judge Pivalikhina «is a member of an organised criminal group and makes illegal decisions when hearing civil cases». The investigation believes that by posting the video, Zykov «defamed the honour and dignity of the judge and undermined her reputation». The cases have been merged.

Zykov is being represented by Dmitriy Levichev, a lawyer from OVD-Info.

In addition, a case on insulting a judge (Part 1, Article 298.1 of the Criminal Code) was opened against Zykov for a video on VKontakte which claims that Justice of the Peace Privalikhina «is a member of an organized criminal gang and gives out illegal sentences in civil cases.» According to investigators, by publishing this video Zykov «discredited the judge’s honour and dignity and damaged her reputation.»

Voronezh

Yevgeny Karpov, former coordinator of Navalny’s local headquarters, 34.

On December 1, 2022, a search took place at his parents' house. Karpov has left Russia. The details of the case are unknown. Karpov has at least three court decisions in administrative cases under the same article that have already come into force (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses): on May 17, 2022, he was fined 30,000 rubles for anti-war videos on his YouTube channel Vornadzor, and on August 11, he was fined 40,000 rubles twice for other anti-war videos published on YouTube and publications in the Vornadzor Telegram channel. In January 2023, Voronezh journalist Fyodor Orlov was searched as part of the case. In March, Karpov’s parents were searched again. The activist was put on the wanted list.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Alexander Vdovichenko, prisoner and citizen of Ukraine, 42.

He is in a pre-trial detention center for attempted murder. According to the Telegram channel ASTRA, the case of repeat discrediting of the armed forces was opened after denunciation by acquaintances with whom Alexander had discussed the war in private. According to them, he criticized Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and expressed support for the Azov Battalion. Previously, the court had fined him 30,000 rubles under the same administrative article (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of his comments on social networks, where he criticized the actions of the Russian Federation. On July 21, 2023, the court issued a verdict in Vdovichenko’s criminal case, the details of which are unknown.

Mikhail Yanov, 43.

In 2021, he was fined 10,000 rubles in an administrative case for taking part in a rally in support of Alexei Navalny. The reason for the criminal proceedings for defamation was the publication of a link to a certain video on a messenger. In May 2022, Yanov was fined 30, 000 rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code), the details of which are also unknown. The criminal case is already being examined in court.

Elista

Valeriy Badmaev, editor-in-chief of «Sovremennaya Kalmykia» (Kalmykia Today) media, 71.

A criminal case was opened regarding a video about the events in Mariupol. According to investigators, the journalist reposted in VKontakte a video with a story of an Azov Battalion member claiming that the Russian army had used phosphorus bombs against the defenders of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. The court imposed a ban on certain activities as a pre-trial restriction. Previously, Badmaev had been fined 35,000 rubles under a similar administrative article (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for posting a video on VKontakte entitled «Stop the war with Ukraine and dismiss Putin! Opinion of the public figure V. A. Badmaev». In March 2023 it became known that an expert examination had found no signs of defamation in the video with the «Azov» story. Badmaev’s measure of restriction was replaced by an undertaking not to leave. The Prosecutor’s Office twice refused to approve the indictment in the case.

Nizhnevartovsk

Evgeny Fedosov, 39.

In June 2022, he was fined 30,000 RUB under the article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code (discrediting of the Russian army) for using the hashtag «no to war» in social media posts. On November 9th, 2022, he was detained for anti-war posts on VKontakte. Security officers met Fedosov near the entrance to his apartment building and immediately confiscated his mobile phone. He was brought in for questioning to police station № 1. There he was held for the entire day. In the evening he tried to leave the station, but was caught and beaten. Then he was brought home, where his electronic devices were inventoried and then confiscated in the presence of witnesses. He was allowed to remain at home, but was told that if he didn’t come to the police station the next day then he would regret it. The next day, on November 10th he came to the station. The police didn’t question him, but told him to buy a sim-card and be available on the phone. He found out that there are criminal charges against him on December 22nd during questioning. He was charged for several reposts on social media, including those with the symbols allegedly attributed to the «Freedom of Russia» legion and the phrase «Putin is war». It later emerged that the reason for the case was seven reposts of anti-war messages on VKontakte: they spoke about the 151st day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, support for the Ukrainian army and crimes committed by the Russian military; one of the posts began with the words «gopniks [thugs] in the Kremlin», while another contained a cartoon poster of Vladimir Putin «whose appearance is similar» to Adolf Hitler. According to the investigation, the text of the post read: in the village of Yahidne (Ukraine), the Russian military held almost the entire population of the village (351 people) in the basement of a school for 28 days. Another publication, according to the bill of indictment, said that «the Russians blew up their own train with military equipment and ammunition» at Kalanchak station in Kherson Oblast. On June 8, 2023, Fedosov was sentenced to a fine of 150,000 rubles.

Fedosov is represented by OVD-Info lawyer Anastasia Stepanova.

Orenburg

Konstantin Pchelintsev, director of the Historical and Genealogical Society «Odnodvorets», 53.

In July 2022, he tore stickers containing the letter «Z» off of a St. George ribbon and the phrase «We don’t leave our own behind» from the door of the reading room of the State Archive of the Orenburg Region, and later posted a video on social media entitled «How to tear off the letter „Z“ correctly». This was the reason for opening a criminal case. Previously the Leninsky District Court of Orenburg had fined Pchelintsev 30,000 rubles for discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) after he participated in the ZaBeg marathon dressed in a T-shirt with the Ukrainian flag and anti-war slogans. On January 13, 2023, the court sentenced Pchelintsev to a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Andrey Prikazchikov, the leader of the «Derzhava» party advocating for «Russian socialism, » 59.

For more details see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Vladikavkaz

Teona Kelekhsaeva, a resident of Nogir village, 32.

The case is based on comments about the «special military operation», and mobilised soldiers from North Ossetia that, according to investigators, she posted on her VKontakte (VK) page and in Telegram channels. Later reports on the case referred to posts on VKontakte and Instragram. Previously she had been prosecuted under the article of the Code of Administrative Offences (Article 20.3.3 Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation). According to unconfirmed information, the criminal case under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation had previously been instituted against her. The «15th Region» informational portal conveyed that she was fined for 30,000 RUB in this legal case, perhaps, what is being referred to is a judicial fine or, more likely, an administrative fine. On March 23, 2023, Kelekhsaeva was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles and ordered to undergo compulsory outpatient treatment by a psychiatrist.

Yefremov (Tula region)

Alexey Moskalev, 54.

He bred caged birds and ran a small farm. Moskalev had a teenage daughter whom he was bringing up alone. He had previous convictions for theft, illegal deprivation of liberty and possession of ammunition. After his daughter drew a picture of the Russian and Ukrainian flags with the words «No War!» and «Glory to Ukraine» in her art class, she and her father were taken to the police. Moskalev was found to have posted a comment on social network Odnoklassniki with the words «The Russian army. Rapists are among us», and a protocol was drawn up under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences); on April 25 the court fined him 32,000 rubles. FSB officers then questioned Moskalev and his daughter at the school. Moskalev then took the girl out of school. On New Year’s Eve, their home was searched and all of Moskalev’s savings taken. He was taken to the FSB for questioning, and his daughter to a 'social institution'. Moskalev said that during the interrogation he was beaten «against the wall and the floor», locked in an office for two and a half hours, and the Russian national anthem was played at full volume, causing him to suffer coronary symptoms. In the evening they were both released, and Moskalev and his daughter left Yefremov. The case was initiated following posts on Odnoklassniki about, among other things, the killing of Bucha residents and Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka. Moskalev denies that he himself published these posts. According to Moskalev, his page has been hacked several times. The principal of the school Moskalev’s daughter attended claims that no one called the police about the drawing. On March 1, 2023, Moskalev was detained in another town where he had moved with his daughter, and his daughter was taken to an orphanage in Yefremov. The next day Moskalev was placed under house arrest. They refused to return his daughter to him. On March 28, Moskalev was sentenced to two years in a penal colony and the court ruled that his daughter should be handed over to child protection services. He did not attend the sentencing hearing — according to the court spokesperson, he had fled the night before. On the night of March 30, it was reported that Moskalev had been detained in Minsk. On April 5, his daughter was handed over to her mother, who refused to take the girl before her ex-husband was sentenced. On April 7, it was officially reported that Moskalev was in a pre-trial detention centre in the Belarusian town of Zhodzina, some 60 kilometres from Minsk. On April 12, it emerged that Moskalev had been extradited to Russia. The court dismissed the case of restricting the parental rights of Moskalev and his ex-wife. The prosecutor appealed the verdict, asking that Moskalev be deprived of the right to administer Internet resources for three years because he had committed the crime in a situation of armed conflict. Incidentally, it turned out that a new lawyer had been added to the case, working under an agreement with a person whom they refused to name. In their appeal against the sentence, this lawyer agreed with the court that Moskalev was guilty, but demanded that the sentence be changed to a non-custodial measure. On May 3, it emerged that Moskalev was in Smolensk pre-trial detention centre. He told an OVD-Info lawyer that he had been severely beaten during his detention in Belarus. According to him, it happened in the town of Smolevichi, about 40 kilometres from Minsk. He was held for two or three days in the local temporary detention centre, then for about a week in Zhodzina prison, after which people in civilian clothes drove him to Russia in a car with no departmental markings. He spent two days in a temporary detention centre in Smolensk, after which he was transferred to a pre-trial detention centre. Moskalev was later transferred to the Tula pre-trial detention centre. After a support group published a call to write letters to Moskalev, the detention centre administration suspended the processing of correspondence. On July 3, the court of appeal toughened Moskalev’s punishment by banning him from administering Internet resources for two years.

Moskalev’s interests are represented by lawyer Vladimir Bilienko of OVD-Info.

Kotlas

Anatoly Arseev, former municipal deputy, 46.

According to the investigation, from July to September 2022 he posted comments on social media discrediting the army, particularly under posts about the mobilised men. In May 2022, the court fined Arseev 30,000 rubles for comments on Russian social media site VKontakte about the deaths of civilians in the Arkhangelsk Oblast and anti-war protests in Tbilisi (Georgia). In September he was detained while filming people who had been mobilised: he was then released without an offence record, but officers at the police department said that the investigation expert opinion found evidence of discrediting the army in his posts on VKontakte and threatened to initiate criminal proceedings. His VKontakte page was later blocked. On October 17, 2023, Arseev was sentenced to a fine of 120,000 rubles. t

Arseev’s interests are represented by OVD-Info lawyer Sergei Tikhonov.

Vladimir Kotov, activist.

He took part in protests against the construction of a landfill in Shiyes (Arkhangelsk region). The reason for the prosecution was the anti-war publications in VKontakte. In June 2022 Kotov was already fined 30 thousand rubles (approximately €350) under administrative article on «discrediting the Russian Federation Armed Forces» (article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation) for eight comments in «VKontakte» in which, according to the text of the court decision, he characterized «the actions of the Russian Federation Armed Forces as violent, invading and fascist». The case is already in court.

Magnitogorsk

Minor

Together with two friends he was detained on February 4, 2023, when they planned to take part in an anti-war march and arrived at the gathering place with a white, blue and white flag. All three of them were taken to the police station, and then two were released without any formal charges, while their friend was charged under an article on discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Subsequently, it became known that the young man had already been fined under this article and a criminal case was initiated against him. It was then reported that he had been released with an undertaking not to leave. The details are unknown. His friend said that he began receiving threatening phone calls, and then his VKontakte account and email were hacked, after which the account was blocked for «violation of site rules».

Kholmogory (Arkhangelsk Oblast)

Elena Kalinina, activist

She took part in protests against the construction of a landfill at the Shies station in 2018-2020. The case was initiated following two posts on VKontakte: in one, Kalinina questioned whether it was normal for people to die; the other was a video of a woman from Balakliia whose son had been killed by Russian military fire. On December 8, 2022, Kalinina was detained after a search, and the next day the court imposed a prohibition of certain actions on her. In July 2022, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Arkhangelsk fined Kalinina under two administrative protocols for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The fines were triggered by Kalinina’s posts on social media with images of destroyed Mariupol. The case was referred to the Kholmogory District Court of the Arkhangelsk Oblast. On May 12, Kalinina was sentenced to a fine of 130,000 rubles.

Engels

Volodymyr Martynenko, Ukrainian citizen, 57.

The man made a few social media posts aimed at discrediting the Russian army from February to December 2022, according to the investigation. Details unknown. The security forces conducted an inspection in Martynenko’s flat resulting in the seizure of equipment. The next day he was remanded in custody. In October, he was fined 30,000 roubles under a similar administrative article (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for making a post «on the presence of neo-Nazism in the Russian Armed Forces» on the Odnoklassniki social network. On May 23, 2023, Martynenko was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles, which he was exempted from paying because of the time he had spent in custody. The Ukrainian was released from custody in the courtroom.

Penza

Nikolay Gutsenovich, 65.

The man is facing charges based on his likes of 18 anti-war posts on the «Odnoklassniki» social network, which describe the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as «criminal and aggressive, » and «makes statements about the Russian military shooting Ukrainian citizens, carrying out missile strikes on residential buildings, including in Kiev, resulting in the deaths of civilians». In March 2022, Gutsenovich was fined 30,000 rubles under an administrative article for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and for conducting a solitary picket with an image of hands breaking a missile. On July 18, he was sentenced in a criminal case to a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Stanislav Fomenko, a lawyer from OVD-Info, is representing the interests of Nikolay Gutsenovich.

Lipetsk

Stanislav Korvyakov

The reason for initiating a case were publications in his personal blog on «Yandex.Zen». The Acting Prosecutor of the Oktyabrsky district of the city reported that Korvyakov compared «symbols of the special operation» to the swastika and wrote «a lot of negativity and dirt» about the Russian military. In July 2022, Korvyakov was fined under an administrative article on discrediting the army (p.1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for sending a letter to the city administration with the heading «On Zombies». In his letter, the activist demanded the removal of a poster with the letter «Z» from the «Oktyabr» youth palace. «Z is Putin’s swastika […] Only a person brainwashed by propaganda from the first channel can support the war and draw the letter „Z“, » the man explained his request. The court considered other episodes of discrediting the army, such as Korvyakov’s letter to the regional health administration, in which he demanded to remove the symbols of «Z» from ambulance cars, and a letter to Russian Railways, in which he requested the removal of a sticker with the letter «Z» from a locomotive. Employees of the agencies to which Korvyakov wrote turned to the prosecutor’s office, after which a criminal case was initiated. The court imposed a measure of restriction in the form of a ban on certain actions. The case is awaiting trial. Korvyakov was placed under house arrest, but the Court of Appeal overturned this decision.

Gelendzhik

Vadim Kharchenko, blogger, 39.

The first information about a possible criminal case against the blogger appeared on the «Good Gelendzhik» Telegram channel on February 12, 2023. On February 15, information was posted on the same channel claiming that he had been placed under house arrest, but without any indication or evidence for this. On February 20, a brief excerpt from the order to initiate criminal case proceedings was published on the Telegram channel. Acquaintances expressed concern that they had been unable to reach Kharchenko for ten days. On February 23, the full text of the order was published on the Telegram channel. It stated that the case was initiated because of a video entitled «Has Kherson Surrendered? Who is to Blame? Russian Troops Leave Kherson. Shoigu Surovikin Stremousov Saldo» on the «Lichnoye Mneniye» («Personal Opinion») YouTube channel. In April 2022, the blogger was fined 30,000 rubles (~US$397) according to an administrative article for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) due to a video on his YouTube channel in which he allegedly expressed «disagreement with the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in conducting military operations in Ukraine.

Tolyatti

Dmitriy Vashchenok, an employee of AvtoVAZ, a state-owned vehicle manufacturer, 42. He considers himself a citizen of the USSR and denies the existence of the Russian Federation as a state.

Detained at his place of work. Details of the criminal case are unknown. In August 2022, Vashchenok was fined for 15,000 (~US$198.5) and 30,000 (~US$397) rubles under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences concerning the discreditation of the Russian Armed Forces. In the first instance, the fine concerned a video which talked about the trial in Ukraine of the Russian tank soldier Vadim Shishimarin who was accused of murdering a Ukrainian pensioner. In the second instance, the fine was also related to a video by the Ukrainian TV channel ICTV about looting by the Russian military. As part of the criminal proceedings, Vashchenok was ordered to undergo treatment in a psychiatric hospital. The court denied him further hospitalisation.

Vashchenok is represented by an attorney from OVD-Info who has been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Kasimov (Ryazan oblast)

Vasily Bolshakov, 38.

His home was searched on February 14, 2023. According to his wife, security forces forced Bolshakov to the floor, then beat and handcuffed him. The reason for initiating a criminal case against him was a joke that Bolshakov had published in «VKontakte» (popular Russian social media channel).

» — Why are we retreating from Herson, Sergey?

— Because you yourself ordered us to liberate Ukraine from fascists and Nazis, Volodya»

In July, Bolshakov was fined 30,000 (397 USD) for discrediting the Russian Army due to his comments in «VKontakte» where he referred to the actions of the Russian army as «fascist» — aimed at wiping out the Ukrainian people. In the autumn he left Russia, but then returned. Bolshakov signed an undertaking not to leave, but this measure expired when he was not charged within the ten days permitted.

On April 3, 2023, it emerged that another case had been brought against Bolshakov under the same article. The reason was the comments he left on September 22, 2022, under another user’s post on VKontakte. In these comments he spoke out against the war and called to sabotage the mobilisation. The two criminal cases were merged and sent to court.

Bolshakov’s rights are represented by Andrey Kuryatnikov — a lawyer from OVD-info.

Gorno-Altaysk

Amyr Aitashev, journalist, head of the Anti-Corruption Committee project.

A search was conducted at his home on March 14, 2023. During investigative actions, law enforcement officers confiscated his Islamic literature and computer equipment. According to police footage, the reason for his criminal prosecution could have been Aitashev’s messages in a Telegram chat named «Gornyi Altai. Discussion» where he texted with a participant of the war in Ukraine. Aitashev left Russia back in December 2022 due to fear of criminal prosecution. He was fined twice for discrediting the Russian military (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and was officially warned about possible criminal prosecution (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) in case of a third offence. The first time, Aitashev was fined for reposting the American actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger’s address on the war in Ukraine. The second time, he was fined for reposting a historian Kamil Galeev’s post about the consequences of the mobilization for Russians.

Ay-Tana Tugudina

The case against Tugudina was initiated because of comments under news posts in the Telegram chat room «Mountains of Altai. Discussion» and the Telegram channel «Altai: breaking news» about another Altai resident who supposedly wanted to assist Ukrainian intelligence agencies. According to the investigation, Tugudina, «while being aware of the criminal nature of her actions», published messages in which she spoke negatively about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine. «Mediazona» found a post with the comment «Men are dying not because of this woman, but because Russia started the war», which was written by the user «Nobody T». In response, a user with the nickname «Alyona» began to claim that it was Tugudina, who had previously been fined under the article on discrediting the army, who was writing under the pseudonym «Nobody T». «Nobody T» wrote: «I was fined for writing that contract soldiers can refuse to go fight in Ukraine. I don’t want these men to die. And you, apparently, like that people die because you are fascists.» In April 2022, Tugudina was fined 30,000 rubles (US$ 310) under the administrative article on defamation (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of her comments in the same chat room. In a criminal case, the court originally sentenced Tugudina to eight months in prison but later replaced the imprisonment with forced labour.

Lobnya (Moscow region)

Anatoliy Roshchin, 75.

His computers, phones, and other technical devices, as well as a Ukrainian flag were confiscated during a search. After an interrogation he was released on personal recognizance. The reason for initiating the criminal case were three anti-war posts on VKontakte that he published in summer 2022. In the posts Roshchin characterized the «special military operation» as a war, a military aggression, and the manifestation of a fascist policy. As Roshchin is a member of the territorial electoral commission with the right of a casting vote, the resolution to initiate a criminal case against him was signed by the head of the main investigation department of the Moscow region. On March 29, 2022 Lobnya’s town court fined Roshchin for 30,000 rubles (app. $350 at the then exchange rate) for discrediting the Russian military (Article 20.3.3. of the Code of Administrative Offences) related to his solitary picket with a poster saying «MY COUNTRY, YOU’VE GOTTEN CRAZY. UKRAINE, FORGIVE ME FOR THE AGGRESSION» that he conducted at the city administration building. On August 3, 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Roshchin’s interests are represented by attorney Yevgeniya Grigorieva provided by OVD-Info.

Nazran

Nazir Ts., 46.

According to investigators, in November 2022 he published certain posts on an unspecified social network that were deemed «discrediting» of the Russian military. It later emerged that the case had been triggered by comments on Chernovik’s Telegram channel by a user nicknamed «FT». He is under personal undertaking not to leave. No information could be found on the prosecution under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code).

Moscow

Oleg Orlov, human rights defender, co-chair of the Center of Human Rights Defense «Memorial», 69.

The reason for initiating a case was a repost of his own article «They wanted fascism. They sure got it» for the French online newspaper Mediapart on Facebook. The human rights defender wrote that «The bloody war unleashed by Putin’s regime in Ukraine isn’t just the mass murder of the Ukrainian people and the destruction of the infrastructure, economy, and cultural property of this wonderful country. It isn’t just about the destruction of the principles of international law. The war also dealt a very heavy blow to Russia’s future». Orlov was detained on the 21st March 2023 after a search. That day mass searches on the employees of the «International Memorial» also were conducted as a part of a different case — about rehabilitation of Nazism (Parapagraph «C», Part 2, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Orlov is a witness in this case. In the case of discrediting the Russian army the human rights defender had to sign a commitment not to leave. On 12th May, 2022, Orlov was fined 50,000 rubles in accordance with an article of the Code of Administrative Offences about discrediting the Russian army (article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation) for the poster «USSR 1945 — the country that defeated Facism. Russia 2022 — the country where Fascism won'' that he unfolded on Red Square. On October 11, 2023, Orlov was sentenced to a fine of 150,000 rubles.

Orlov’s interests are represented by a lawyer from OVD-Info, Katerina Tertukhina.

Nina Nesterova

Full details are unknown. Nesterova is somewhere outside Russia. She has been put on the wanted list. In April 2022, Nesterova was fined 50,000 roubles under a similar administrative article (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for participating in an anti-war picket. In February 2023, Nesterova was detained for wearing ribbons with Ukrainian flag colours and a rainbow cow on her backpack. She was then charged with disobedience to law enforcement officers (Article 19.3, part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences), but that case was dropped. On September 30, 2023, Nesterova was arrested in absentia.

Yevgeny Savin (KraSava), a former football player, blogger, 39.

The reason for initiating the case was his interview on the channel «Ostrozhno, Sobchak» (Beware, Sobchak). In February 2023, Savin was fined 50,000 rubles under this administrative article. The case was initiated following a complaint from Roman Tereshkov, a State Duma deputy from the United Russia party. The exact pretence for initiating the administrative case is currently unknown. Savin left Russia in May 2022 after posting a video featuring Ukrainian athletes expressing their opposition to the war.

Cheboksary

Semen Kochkin, ex-coordinator of Navalny’s local headquarters, administrator of the Telegram Channel «Grumpy Chuvashia», 29.

A criminal case against him was initiated for a post on the channel from the 27th of December, 2022. In that post, Kochkin speaks negatively of Roberet Baranov, head of the Main Computational Centre of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation by The Insider, Baranov is in charge of missile launches targeting Ukraine. There were two court decisions against Kochkin, issued in October and December 2022, which have since come into effect. In the December case, the court ruled to charge him 40 thousand rubles (US$500) for an alleged video. Kochkin has left Russia. In September 2023, it became known that he was put on a wanted list.

Vorotynets (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

Olga Lizunkova, English Language teacher.

The case against her was initiated because of a video statement in which she urges Russian people to not go to war and calls the war criminal, and Vladimir Putin — a war criminal. The video was posted on the Telegram channel «Grumpy Chuvashia» in December 2022. Lizunkova worked as an English teacher at a regional branch of Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Transportation, Service and Tourism. In autumn, she gave a lecture, in which she spoke out against mobilisation and dissuaded her students from going to war. One of her students filed a complaint, which stated that Lizunkova «made agitating statements that Ukraine is stronger than Russia and that Russia will lose the war, instead of giving a lecture». Lizunkova was summoned by the police for questioning, who then drew up a report against her for discrediting the Russian Army. In November 2022, the court fined her in the amount of 30 thousand rubles (US$370). The Institute administration rebuked Lizunkova. Shortly after, she resigned. In February 2023 it was reported that Lizunkova had left Russia with her husband. In April, it was reported that the criminal case had been dropped on the grounds that the administrative offence decision was not in force at the time it was initiated.

Kireyevsk (Tula Region)

Igor Kazankov, 38.

The incident behind the criminal case against Kazankov took place in a chain supermarket store «Magnit» (Magnet) in the town of Oktyabrsky on November 23, 2022. Allegedly, Kazankov caused a scene by undressing to the waist and showing tattoos with Nazi symbols while under the influence of alcohol. In the parking lot near the store, he allegedly shouted out «Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine!». In connection with the same incident, the case had already been initiated against Kazankov concerning the repeated display of Nazi symbols (Part 1 of Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code). Kazakov was taken into custody. In March 2022, as a result of a similar incident, Kazankov was prosecuted under an administrative offence for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code on Administrative Offences) and issued a fine of 50 thousand rubles (USD$612), and was sentenced to an eight-day detention for publicly displaying Nazi symbols (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). According to the court order, he showed off his tattoos at a Moscow metro station, while performing a Nazi salute, «shouting out Nazi slogans in public». Following this incident, he was arrested for ten days for disorderly conduct (Part 2 of Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). There are also two episodes of vandalism (Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code) included into the criminal case, the details are unknown. On July 7th 2023, Kazankov was sentenced to three years in prison and a two-year ban on administering Internet websites.

Orsk (Orenburg Region)

Maxim Gavrilin

The pretext for the case was «a comment in a messenger chat», no further details are known. Previously, Gavrilin had been fined 30 thousand rubles (USD$370) for publishing certain «text materials, images with text, videos». Gavrilin was released on his own recognizance. On September 26, 2023, the court sentenced Gavrilin to a fine of 120,000 rubles. As a mitigating factor, the court took into account the fact that Gavrilin had «repeatedly provided charitable assistance, including to public organisations providing support to persons taking part in the special military operation».

Novomoskovsk (Tula region)

Sergey Buyvol, 62.

The details are unknown. On March 30, 2023 policemen came to his place of residence in order to conduct a search whereas Buyvol, according to the Telegram channel «Tula.Extremism», put up armed resistance, threatened the police with a knife, doused himself and the police officers with a flammable liquid and attempted to set it on fire. In relation to these acts another case was initiated against him for the use of violence against a representative of the authorities (Article 318 of the Criminal Code). Buyvol was put under custody. In April 2022 he had been fined 30 000 rubles under an administrative article of discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The charge had been brought in relation to his posts on the Odnoklassniki social network. On July 12, 2023, Buyvol was sentenced to three and a half years in a general regime penal colony.

Belogorsk (Amur region)

Valentina Gamliy, 30.

According to the investigators, in August 2022 she opened an anonymous Telegram account and on August 28 left some comments ‘discrediting’ the army, in one of the regional public channels. She had been previously fined 30 000 rubles under a similar administrative article (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) following comments in a regional public channel. She wrote that Russian forces were waging ‘a fratricide war supporting fascism in Russia’ and ‘invading another country and bombing everything without distinction’. Gamliy pleaded guilty. On April 20, 2023 she was sentenced to a penalty in the amount of 100,000 rubles.

Veliky Ustyug (Vologda oblast)

Nikolay Egorov, chairman of the Vologda branch of the political party «Yabloko», 57.

Details are unknown. Previously, Egorov had been fined three times under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for posting videos on the social network VK, twice in the amount of 30 thousand rubles (US$400) and once in the amount of 50 thousand rubles (US$650). Egorov was released on his own recognizance. On May 5, 2023, law enforcement officers raided the offices of Stroyrynok Ltd, the company Egorov heads. On June 11, Egorov was given a measure of restraint in the form of a ban on certain actions. The case is already in court.

Egorov is represented by an OVD-Info lawyer.

Kaliningrad

Mikhail Feldman, activist, journalist, 53.

His reposts and publications in «VKontakte» (Russian social network) led to an initiation of two criminal cases under the article on discrediting the army. Before that Feldman was prosecuted under the administrative article on discrediting the army (article 20.3.3, Code of Administrative Offences) because he participated in an anti-war rally on the 6th of March, 2022, he was then fined 30,000 rubles (approx. $390). The court appointed the activist, as a measure of restriction, the prohibition of certain actions.

In 2015, Feldman was found guilty under the article of possession of explosives (Article 222 of the Criminal Code) and the article about hooliganism by a group of persons motivated by political hatred or animosity (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code) under the case of hanging a German flag on the garage of the Kaliningrad Regional FSB (Russian Federal Security Service) building. Back then he was appointed one year, one month and 23 days in colony, but he was released in the courtroom based on the time spent in the pre-trial detention facility. In 2020, he was appointed a two months-restriction of freedom for the insult to state symbols (Article 329 of the Criminal Code) because of his publications on this social media: he posted a photo of the Russian tricolour carrying an inscription «Wipe your feet», a picture of the Russian coat of arms with a phrase containing swear words and also a picture of the flag next to a human anus. During his final statement in the court, Feldman took out a Russian flag, threw it on the floor, and stomped on it, saying, «Wipe your feet!». In this regard, a new criminal case was initiated against him under the article on insulting state symbols. On the 3rd of March, 2021, Feldman was sentenced to six months of restriction of freedom. On the 7th of June, the court of appeal replaced the sentence with a five-month suspended sentence.

Nikolaevsk-na-Amure (Khabarovsk Krai)

Sergey Kalalb, resident of the work settlement of Okhotsk, construction worker, 54.

Kalalb’s son was killed in the war in Ukraine in March 2022. The reason for initiating the case was a TikTok video posted by Kalalb in the «Kalalb-ur» group chat on WhatsApp which he administrated. In the video a woman says, «Girls, why do you send your children to war? Go to the Ministry of Defense and ask them to remove them from there.» Shortly before the publication, an officer from the local police department joined the chat. The officer had previously drawn up an administrative offence report against Kalalb under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) due to his messages in the chat. In August 2022, Kalalb was fined 30,000 rubles (approx. $390) based on the administrative offence. The same officer informed Kalalb about the initiation of a criminal case. The court imposed a measure of restriction in the form of a prohibition on certain actions. The case is already in court.

Zalukokoazhe settlement (Kabardino-Balkaria)

Islam Mambetov, an accountant.

The reason for initiating the case were publications on Instagram: Mambetov quoted certain statements of a singer Laima Vaikule, referred to Russia as a despicable state and wrote about the «collapse of the empire of evil, of chekists [special agents of Cheka — the first Soviet secret police organization], and communists». Previously, Mambetov was fined 30,000 rubles (approximately €350) under an administrative article related to discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation), also based on publications on Instagram. On July 25, 2023, Mambetov was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Kazan

Pavel Chumakov

A publication on the social network 'VKontakte' has led to a prosecution, although the specific details remain unknown. On the 12th of May, 2023, Chumakov’s apartment was subjected to a search and he subsequently signed a personal recognizance bond. In relation to the same case, a journalist Nailya Mullaewa’s apartment was searched on the 16th of May, 2023. Nailya vehemently denied any association with Pavel Chumakov. In addition, three more searches were conducted on the same day in the city of Kazan, however, it is undisclosed whether the reason of these was the connection to the case. In July, the court overturned one of the search warrants. It is worth noting that in November of 2022, Chumakov’s anti-war comments on 'Vkontakte' resulted in an administrative fine of 30,000 rubles (approximately €350) for discrediting Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation). The basis for this penalty was his comments on the platform in which he expressed his views on the bombing of Ukrainian cities, labeling Putin as a maniac and his supporters as fascists. The case is already in court.

Chumakov was also charged with inciting activities against the security of the state (Part 1, Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Zulfiya Sitdikova, an activist, 46.

There are two episodes in the case, details unknown. In July 2022, Sitdikova was fined 40,000 rubles for discrediting the Russian army under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offense for the fact that at an Oleg Gazmanov on June 12 she wore a sweatshirt with the English slogan «NO WAR.» Three and a half weeks later, when she came to a police station to retrieve her sweatshirt, the police drew up a protocol against her for failure to obey a lawful police order (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), after which she was detained and arrested for 5 days. At the beginning of September 2022, Sitdikova had her home searched as part of a case on the justification of terrorism (part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) for a video of an attack on the Russian Ambassador in Poland (see below). In April 2023, Sitdikova and another activist Vera Otreshko were detained for planning to hold a picket with a poster saying «May 9.» In May, Sitdikova had her home searched as part of a criminal case against Pavel Chumakov for discrediting the Russian army (see above). On July 4, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan annulled the search warrant of the activist’s apartment. On August 25, Sitdikova was detained on her way out of the apartment and taken to the police station, where a report was drawn up on her for organising an uncoordinated action (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code); the next day, the court placed her under arrest for eight days. The reason for issuing the report is unknown.

Pavel Stepanov, 29. He had been running social media pages under aliases such as «Sovereign Pavel Alexandrovich Stepanoff» and «The Spirit of Verity of All Rus’!». The reason for initiating a criminal case on the basis of discrediting the army against this man was a video clip where he was talking about the war in Ukraine. Stepanov was arrested. In September 2022, he was fined 30,000 roubles (US$315) on the basis of discrediting the Russian military for his comments on VK (Russian social network) criticising the war, Vladimir Putin, the market economy, and uttering xenophobic statements.

Krasnodar

Alipat Sultanbegova, journalist and activist, 31.

The reason for initiating the case was an action on the anniversary of the beginning of the war at the monument to Taras Shevchenko: Sultanbegova laid flowers at it and left three plaques next to it with the following inscriptions: «24.02.2022 — Day of Shame», «Forgive us Ukraine'' and „Bucha, Irpen, Kyiv, Dnipro, Vinnitsa, Odessa, Kharkiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Lugansk, Izyum, Gostomel“. In March 2022, she was fined 30 thousand rubles under an administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of an avatar with the inscription „No to War“. In addition, in late April 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar received another administrative case from the activist under the same article — a protocol was issued for her Instagram posts with an anti-war drawing by schoolgirl Masha Moskaleva from the town of Efremov in the Tula Region, the daughter of Alexei Moskalev. Sultanbegova left Russia after she found a letter in her mailbox from the Investigative Committee with a resolution to initiate a criminal case. At the end of May 2023, three of Sultanbegova’s acquaintances were searched as witnesses in her case.

Sultanbegova’s interests are represented by OVD-Info lawyer Alexey Avanesyan.

Sosnovka urban settlement (Tambov Oblast)

Oleg Borisenko, former military man, founder of a military-patriotic club «The Russian», 57.

He took part in the hostilities in Chechnya, Yugoslavia and Syria. In 2005, he participated in the elections to the City Duma as an independent candidate. According to investigators, he spilled paint on a poster with the letter Z on it in Sosnovsky district, Tambov Oblast. It is likely that the acting head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Tambov Region reported about this particular case initiated on the 20th of November, 2022. Borisenko said in a video message that he had been searched and that they made him sign a personal recognizance bond. A case was also opened under the article on illegal possession of explosives (Part 1, Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code), the details are unknown. The joint case is already in the court. In May 2022, he was fined 30 thousand rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) because of a sticker with the inscription «No to war!» and a crossed-out Z that could be seen on his car.

In June 2023, a new case against Borisenko under the same criminal article was reported (see below).

Tambov

Oleg Borisenko, former military man, founder of a military-patriotic club «The Russian», 57.

The case was triggered by two videos published in May 2023. In one of them, he urged the students of his military-patriotic club not to go to war with Ukraine and called it criminal. In the same video, he mentions the first criminal case under the same article (see above). In another video, Borisenko addressed the governor of Tambov Oblast, Maxim Egorov, and invited him to come and visit the graves of soldiers killed in Ukraine. In May 2023, Borisenko was arrested for 15 days for failing to pay a fine for jaywalking on time. On June 6, on his release from the detention centre, Borisenko was detained and taken to the police station. The next day, the court remanded him in custody. On June 15, Borisenko was placed under house arrest. On October 5, the court refused to extend his house arrest. ko

Sergei Patsiashvili

In March 2022, he was fined 40,000 rubles (US$415) under the article on discrediting the Russian army. According to the decision of the Soviet District Court of Tambov, Patsiashvili, being the administrator of the group «Philosopher’s Stone» on VKontakte (Russian social network), wrote: «The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that it was the ‘Banderites’ who set fire to the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya. Nothing dumber can be imagined. Every Ukrainian understands that in the event of an explosion the whole of Ukraine will suffer from radiation. And radiation may not reach Putin’s bunker. Therefore, it is quite obvious that the Ukrainians could not set fire to the station».

Patsiashvili was detained for another post on VKontakte in late March 2023, but they let him go after interrogation. He left Russia soon after. He found out about the criminal case against him from his mother, after security forces had come to her house and asked for his whereabouts.

Chita

Ivan Losev, 26.

The reason for initiating the case was a certain picture on Instagram. Earlier, Losev was brought to the court three times under an administrative article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). In December 2022, he was fined 30 thousand rubles because of Instagram stories; back then the Astra Telegram channel published the materials of that administrative case. According to them, in his publication, Losev spoke critically about the mobilization and described a dream about Zelensky. At the same time, the court ruling on the fine did not mention a dream about the President of Ukraine. In February 2023, Losev was again fined under the same article — twice — for a total of 70 thousand rubles (approximately €816 or $875). The man said that protocols were drawn up against him because of denunciations: the story that he was fined because of a dream with Zelensky was widely publicized, Losev gave interviews to several media, including Dozhd TV channel and BBC and posted links to them on Instagram. Two different women saw signs of discrediting the army in these materials and wrote denunciations against Losev. In addition, the security forces put pressure on the mother of the defendant, Nelli Loseva. She was fined for liking a picture that, among other things, contained an insult to Vladimir Putin, and also for liking a post about the deaths of conscripted persons. After being detained as part of the criminal case, Losev was placed in custody, then the measure of restriction was replaced with a ban on certain actions. The young man pleaded guilty, the case was examined in a special order. On the 23rd of May, 2023, Losev was sentenced to a fine of 150 thousand rubles (approx. $1 875 and €1 750) but taking into account the period spent under various preventive measures, the amount was reduced to 120 thousand (approx. $1500 and €1400).

Mikhail Romanov

The case was also opened under the article on incitement to hatred (Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code) and on calls for extremist activities (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). Details are unknown. On June 29, 2023, Romanov was given a two-year suspended sentence with two years' probation. In July 2022, Romanov was fined 30,000 rubles under the administrative offence of defamation (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for a comment on VKontakte: «What a shame to be proud that you are an occupier, that you invaded a foreign country to destroy cities and kill people, to carry out criminal orders…».

Norilsk

Vladislav Nikolaev, 28.

The reason for the persecution was the posts and collage «on a social network banned in the Russian Federation» (presumably referring to Facebook) from September 4, 2022, and February 20, 2023, which «contained statements undermining the dignity, authority, and trust in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.» During the investigation, Nikolaev was released on personal recognizance. In June 2022, in Volgograd, where Nikolaev was on vacation, protocols were drawn up against him under administrative articles related to discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and minor hooliganism (Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) due to the inscription «Fuck the war» and pacifist sign on the window of his personal car. He was arrested for one day by the court.

Buzuluk (Orenburg Oblast)

Mikhail Kolokolnikov, resident of Krasnogvardeets settlement, locomotive driver. His son took part in the war for the first few months, then resigned.

Kolokolnikov was charged with reposting several videos on his Odnoklassniki page. In particular, he posted videos by Ukrainian blogger and political analyst Taras Berezovets, who previously founded the Free Crimea project. One of the videos was dedicated to the undermining of the Crimean bridge. In January 2023, Kolokolnikov was interrogated and took on his own recognisance. On August 29, 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of 130,000 rubles. In May 2022, Kolokolnikov was fined 35,000 rubles (US$450) under an administrative article related to discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for shouting «Glory to Ukraine!», explaining to passersby that the television broadcasts lie, using vulgar language against the president and government, and referring to the Russian army as occupiers. In court, Kolokolnikov explained that he desires peace and opposes war, and thus was expressing his personal opinion.

Village Maya (Yakutia)

Pavel Baryshev

The prosecution is linked to anti-war comments made during a live broadcast on social media. In December 2022, Baryshev was fined 30,000 rubles (US$ 370) under an administrative article related to discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). He was brought to administrative liability because of a phrase said during a live broadcast on the Chat Roulette social network. According to the court order, the man engaged in conversation with people he did not know, sitting in front of the flag of Ukraine. They began to question Baryshev about his feelings towards war, to which he replied that he wished death to all the Yakuts who went to war. The video of their conversation later went viral on social media. Apparently, the Chat Roulette social network also appears in the criminal case. On April 21, 2023, Baryshev was sentenced to one and a half years in a general regime penal colony. Previously, he was convicted under articles on theft with illegal entry into a house (Paragraph «a» of Part 3 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code) and on evasion of administrative supervision or non-compliance with restrictions imposed by the court (Part 2 of Article 314.1 of the Criminal Code). The Megino-Kangalassky court, which passed the sentence in the defamation case, said in a statement that Baryshev’s last conviction had not been expunged or cancelled.

Sysert (Sverdlovsk Oblast)

Daria Sergeeva, a resident of Aramil, an art school teacher, 29.

The case was initiated following her posts on Instagram and an anti-war action on February 24, 2023. On the anniversary of the start of the full-scale war, Sergeeva created an unofficial memorial next to the monument to civil war heroes in Aramil. She brought there carnations, a candle, a toy bear and frames bearing portraits of dead Ukrainians and the inscription «February has lasted for a year. So many sins can’t be washed away, there are not enough prayers.» She posted the photo on her Instagram. On the morning of June 9, 2023, Sergeeva’s home was searched and she was taken to Sysert for interrogation, after which she was released on her personal recognizance. In November 2022, Sergeeva was fined 15,000 rubles (US$163) under article 20.3.3 (discrediting the army) of the Code of Administrative Offences for having posted a bulletin from the September elections of the region’s governor in her Instagram stories. The bulletin bore an image of an inverted Ukrainian flag and the dove of peace and the inscription «No to war. Trial for Putin …> Glory to Ukraine, freedom to Russia! Freedom for political prisoners.»

Besides Instagram stories featuring the bulletin, the police report also mentioned another Instagram story and five posts by Sergeeva. Sergeeva said that the screenshot from her Instagram appeared in pro-war Telegram channels, after which she started receiving threats. On August 25, 2023, Sergeeva was arrested in absentia.

Sergeeva’s interests are represented by OVD-Info lawyer Roman Kachanov.

Anapa (Krasnodar Territory)

Andrey Melnikov, blogger, 54.

In March 2023, a search was conducted in Melnikov’s apartment. By that moment he had already left Russia. Melnikov’s wife was not presented with any documents but she was told that the case was initiated under the article on discrediting the army (article 20.3.3, Code of Administrative Offences). The police threatened her with taking her three minor children from her and with charging her with harbouring her husband. In May 2022, Melnikov was fined 30,000 rubles (approx. $390) under the administrative article on discrediting the army because of the video posted on Youtube titled «Is the usage of nuclear weapons possible? Well, why not». In May 2023, they tried to detain Melnikov in Yerevan. At the same moment it has also become known that he had been put on the wanted list.

Perm

Yakov Ovchinnikov, photographer.

Details are unknown. According to Ovchinnikov, the police interrogated his sister and nephew, and also raided the apartment where his family used to live but which they had since sold to a new owner. That new owner was also called in for interrogation. On March 6 and 13, 2022, Ovchinnikov was detained during protests against the war in Ukraine. Later, he left Russia together with his family, fearing persecution by the authorities. On April 4, 2022, he was fined 30,000 rubles (app. $330) for discrediting the Russian military (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for his comment on social media about mobile crematoriums used by the Russian army that said: «In the best-case scenario, the mothers, if they want, will be given an urn with their son’s ashes who will then not be counted as missing in action, so that they don’t have to deal with ‘trifling minutiae.’» Ovchinnikov was put on a wanted list.

Sosnovy Bor (Leningrad Oblast)

Mikhail Popov

Details are unknown. He is currently under house arrest. The case is led by the Investigative Committee’s First Division for the investigation of highly important cases of the Investigative Department of Leningrad Oblast. They conduct «investigative and operational search activities» jointly with the Federal Security Service (FSB) to uncover all the «circumstances of the committed crime.» Besides, the security forces are also looking into the «causes and conditions» that led the defendant to publish those comments on social media. The case is already before the court. In July 2022, Popov was prosecuted under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), the details of which are unknown.

Saint Petersburg

Yelena Abramova, 42.

The reasoning behind initiating a criminal case against Abramova was her participation in the protest on 4 June 2023: she came out to Gostiny Dvor (one of the main historical places in St Petersburg) with a sign saying «Free Navalny! Free all political prisoners! No to War!». In February Abramova was fined 30,000 roubles (US$315) for discrediting the army for picketing out with a «No to war» sign. As a result of the criminal case the court pronounced the measure of restriction in the form of prohibition of certain actions. The investigation took four days to complete, but later it resumed, after which another episode appeared in the case: a solitary protest on April 29, 2023 with a poster «A world without war. Russia without Putin», which initially led to a protocol under Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code.v

Vladimir Mironov, a graduate student at Saint Petersburg Academic University, 25.

For more details, see the section on Article 213 of the Criminal Code.

Pskov

Vladimir Sukhorukov, resident of the Pechorsky district of Pskov Oblast, marathon runner.

Details are unknown. In April 2022, Sukhorukov was fined 35 thousand rubles (app. $390) for discrediting the Russian military (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) because of a bio, photo, and comments under the videos on his VKontakte profile. As part of the criminal case, the court has chosen the prohibition of certain actions as his measure of restraint.

Berezovka village (Krasnoyarsk Krai)

Aleksandr Kapustin, 51.

He participated in multiple anti-war protests in the city of Krasnoyarsk, and as a result was regularly detained by the police. Kapustin’s first detention since the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened on February 26, 2022 for wearing a jacket with the slogan «No War!». Similar detentions followed in May, June, and July of 2022. Additionally, Kapustin held solitary pickets in support of political prisoners and against the entry of Russian troops into Kazakhstan. In September, he was fined for discrediting the Russian army under Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences for holding a solitary picket in July, when he stood in the public with two posters: one against the war and the other one in support of Aleksandra Skochilenko, Viktoria Petrova, Maria Ponomarenko (all prosecuted for spreading «knowingly false information» about the Russian army under part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), and Lilia Chanysheva (prosecuted for participating in an extremist organization under part 3 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code). The court ruling in Kapustin’s case stated that his picket was «accompanied by a musical composition.» A criminal case for discrediting the armed forces was initiated against Kapustin for an anti-war comment that he published on Telegram in January 2023.

Volsk (Saratov Oblast)

Anton Korchagin, 47.

In May 2022, Korchagin was fined 30,000 rubles under the administrative article for discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for posting a comment saying «Yes, Z means fascism» in a local Telegram news channel. A criminal case against Korchagin was initiated after he had an argument with a driver of a car with a «Z» sticker on it. After seeing the sticker, Korchagin took a bat and demanded that the driver remove it. The Baza Telegram channel reported that, according to Korchagin, he was not sober — hence the rude tone in which he spoke to the driver. He was released on personal recognizance. On September 26, 2023, the court sentenced Korchagin to a fine of 150,000 rubles. The case was heard in special proceedings.

Izhevsk

Olga Avdeeva, a surgeon.

A case against Avdeeva was initiated due to her inscribing the word «fascists» on the wall of the Opera and Ballet Theater, under a pro-war banner with a «Z» symbol. She was released on personal recognizance pending investigation. Avdeeva claims that she made the inscription much earlier — in the summer of 2022 — but it did not draw attention of the police until her solitary picket a year later when she stood with a poster saying «Russia Brings Evil» (the original phrase included a Russian-language pun on the letter «Z») near the same theatre. Avdeeva only managed to hold her picket for five minutes, before being detained and subsequently released after providing a written explanation of her actions. Earlier, in March 2022, Avdeeva had a protocol drawn up against her under the administrative article on discrediting the Russian army (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for having participated in an anti-war protest. Avdeeva was fined 15 thousand rubles. The court ruling states that during the protest she was chanting anti-war slogans and holding a poster in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. On September 4, 2023, Avdeeva was fined 30,000 rubles under the same administrative article for the solitary protest she tried to make on September 1 — she went to the square with a wreath and a placard reading «RUSSIA IS DOING ZLO» (zlo means 'evil' in Russian).

Saratov

Ruzilya Bisheva, Russian language and literature teacher, 42.

The reason for her prosecution was an appeal to the Minister of Education of the Saratov region on behalf of the «Parents of Saratov» social movement, the regional faction of the CPRF, and the People’s Council of the local «All-People’s Union for the Revival of Russia.» The letter was signed by Bisheva and allegedly sent from her email account. In the appeal, residents of the region demanded that schools stop teaching the «Important Conversations» classes, the basic state examination, USE, and All-Russian testing work in schools, as well as avoid using metal detector frames in educational institutions. «On what grounds is political propaganda conducted in the schools of the Saratov region at the ‘Important Conversations’ classes when the Federal Law ‘On Education’ prohibits political propaganda in educational institutions?» asked its authors. «The main terrorists are not children and their parents, but those who have supported the policies of United Russia and who support the war in Ukraine right now. This is a war against Ukrainians, against the civilian population of beautiful Ukraine, ” the letter said. The lawyer has noted that the appeal to state authorities itself is not considered public since its text is available to a definite number of persons, and according to Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code it is only possible to charge a person if the actions are „public.“ Bisheva is now under recognizance not to leave. In November 2022, she was fined 30,000 rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for several anti-war posts in the „Education: Red Textile Worker“ group in Viber.

Bisheva is represented by Igor Elifkhanov, a lawyer provided by OVD-info.

Nizhny Tagil

Dmitry Cherepkov

Charges against him were triggered by his comment in one of the pro-war groups on VKontakte. According to the ASTRA Telegram channel, Cherepkov wrote: «I do think that the Russian army is occupying Ukraine, but I DO NOT support the Banderovites!!! Not all of the Ukrainian army consists of Banderovites!!! Even if it does, that doesn’t mean that our troops are not occupiers! Those who occupy are occupiers.» The charges are based on an expert opinion of an employee of the Ural Forensic Expert Center, who concluded that the man’s statement contains «the addressee’s conviction of a negative nature of the purposes of using the Russian Armed Forces, that is, their discreditation.» Cherepkov is now on personal recognizance. ASTRA reported that a case was opened against Cherepkov (in the post he is identified by his first name and the first initial of his last name) for calls to violate the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation (Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code). However, there are reasons to believe that we are still talking about Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code. There is no available information about a prior effective decision made in a similar administrative case (Article 20.3.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences) against Cherepkov, which is necessary for initiating a criminal case under Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code, while the decision in an administrative case on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) that has entered into force is now known: in April 2023, he was fined 35,000 rubles for his comments on VKontakte criticizing the authorities and actions of the Russian army.

Vladivostok

Sergey Tokhteev, musician, 32.

A criminal case was initiated for some tweets with unknown content. Initially, five criminal cases were initiated against the musician but they were later merged into one. Charges were brought against him in June 2023. In May, Tokhteev was sent for an outpatient psychiatric examination. On August 17, he was placed n a psychiatric hospital. In June 2022, the musician was fined 30,000 rubles under a similar article of the Administrative Code (Article 20.3.3) for pictures and comments on VKontakte, which, among other things, contained criticism of the Russian military symbols Z and V, as well as information about the tragedy in Bucha.

Mirny (Arkhangelsk Oblast)

Lidia Prudovskaya

On 24 July 2023, Prudovskaya was handed a search warrant. The search has not yet taken place. Prudovskaya was called in for questioning together with her children aged nine and ten (who were called in as witnesses). A case was initiated against her for several posts on VKontakte. She was released on personal recognizance. In September 2022, Prudovskaya was fined 35 thousand rubles (US$ 366) under the article on discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). According to the court, in April and June 2022, she published eight posts on her VKontakte page, some of which were about the President of Russia and the military.

Baksan (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic)

Khusen Gukov, former candidate for deputy to the local government council from the Communist Party of Russia, 58.

A case was initiated against Gukov for his posts on Facebook. On 7 August 2023, Gukov’s home was searched by the police and he was released on personal recognizance. Earlier, in January 2023, he was prosecuted under a similar administrative article (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Iglino settlement (Bashkortostan)

Zainulla Gadzhiev, 75.

The reason for his prosecution was a comment written in the «Bashkiria Online» group on VKontakte on January 5, 2023. On August 9, 2023, Gadzhiev was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles. In March 2022, he was fined 30,000 rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for a post in VKontakte that stated: «The lies of Putin’s propaganda in Russia are raised to the truth; the truth is called a lie by Putin’s fascist regime. Nothing will save Russia, the aggressor, from collapse. Glory to Ukraine, bravely repelling Russian aggression, defending the civilization on the entire planet. The West, USA, wake up!!! Today, sacrificing the blood of its sons and daughters, Ukraine is saving you too!»

Yeniseysk (Krasnoyarsk region)

Andrei Anikyev, a videographer, 52.

On June 28, 2023, his home was searched because of his three anti-war comments on VKontakte. The law enforcement seized his phone, laptop, and passport and made him apologise on camera. He gave an explanation in which he wrote that he «regrets his actions» and also promised to the law enforcement not to speak out about the war on social networks again. Later, Anikyev wrote on VKontakte that one of the law enforcement officers detaining him had a «dead head» patch on his uniform, he called the police officers «carriers of the invading ideology of Russian Nazism» and added that they could not record the video with his «apology» on the first attempt. He also wrote that a fascist regime had been established in Russia and that a part of the nation was struck by «the plague of Russian nazism.» After that, criminal charges were brought against him. Anikiev is on a personal recognizance. In April 2023, Anikyev was fined 30,000 rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code), apparently because he reposted a photo of someone else’s solitary picket.

Obluchye (Jewish Autonomous Oblast)

Viktor Rodionov

The case was initiated because he sent a link to a video about the looting of the Russian military to a WhatsApp group. Rodionov pleaded guilty and agreed to consider the criminal case in a special order. Previously, he was fined twice 30,000 rubles (US$315) on the basis of discrediting the Russian military (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) — both times also because of the video links he sent to the «Citizens of Obluchye» WhatsApp group: on 20 September 2022, with the annotation «Look what the inevitability of defeat does to Shoigu and Solovyov…», and on 6 October 2022, with the annotation «Operation „deRFification“ of the world in this sense, indeed, is still going on». On 21 July 2023, Rodionov was fined 120,000 rubles (US$1250).

Seimchan village (Magadan Oblast)

Zenoviy Ilkiv

He published a video on Odnoklassniki (Russian social media popular among older generations) where Russian army soldiers were called occupants (according to the text of the conviction, the video featured Ukrainian speech). The court chose prohibition of certain actions as the measure of restriction for Ilkiv. Il’kiv pleaded guilty, the court case went through the special procedure. On 19 April 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles (US$1040). On 21 April 2022, Ilkiv had been fined 15,000 rubles (US$156) under the administrative article on discrediting the army also for his posts on Odnoklassniki — that time it was about five posts containing some graphic images and video files.

Shipunovo village (Altai Krai)

Lidiya Shevchenko

Details are unknown; the case is already in court. In October 2022, Shevchenko was fined 30,000 rubles (US$ 318) under an administrative article on discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for posting a poem on an unspecified social network.

Ussuriysk (Primorye Krai)

Andrey Trokal

Details are unknown; the case is already in court. In March 2022, Trokal was fined 30,000 rubles (US$ 318) under an administrative article on discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for posting videos on his personal page titled «Shattered to Pieces — Russian Army Lost.»

Nikolsk (Penza Oblast)

Mikhail Kartyshov

Details are unknown. A case has also been initiated under the article on robbery (Part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code). On August 28th, 2023, the court issued a verdict, and details are also unknown. In April 2022, Kartyshov was fined 80,000 rubles (US$ 850) under an administrative article on discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for anti-war comments on VKontankte social network.

Uglegorsk (Sakhalin Oblast)

Anna Bilega, journalist, 49.

Two cases of discrediting the Armed Forces have been initiated against her, both of which are already in court, with details unknown. In March 2022, a decision was made against Bilega regarding an administrative article on discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), with details also unknown.

Obninsk (Kaluga Oblast)

Irina Lopanova, a massage therapist.

A criminal case against her was initiated in February 2023, but at that time, Lopanova knew nothing about it. Moreover, on March 9th, she received a document from the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirming the absence of criminal cases against her. Lopanova left Russia. In June, search raids were conducted at her husband’s relatives in connection with her case. According to the Telegram channel «Caution, News, ” the reason for initiating the case were the anti-war publications on the woman’s personal VKontakte social network page. On November 18th, 2022, the court fined Lopanova for an administrative offence related to discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) in the amount of 30,000 rubles (US$ 317). The reason was the publication of a video appeal to Russian military personnel.

Biysk (Altai Krai)

Vladislav Avtomanov, potentially involved in 2015 military activities.

He posted an article on his «Odnoklassniki» page in June 2022 that the military deemed as discrediting based on «linguistic signs». He admitted partial guilt. On September 26, 2023, he was fined 100,000 rubles (~US$1,000) for discrediting the army (pt. 1, art. 20.3.3 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences). As the ruling states, the charges were based on two posts. One featured flags with provocative text: a Ukrainian flag with the text «Bandera’s rug», a Russian flag with the text «Vlasov’s rug» and a flag of the USSR with the text «Your grandad understood it. And you? The flag of victory over fascism». And the other one had the letter Z in a circle with the text: «New fascism — new swastika».

Nyandoma (Arkhangelsk Oblast)

Radik Adnobaev, former deputy of the Kargopol City Duma and environmental activist, 57.

He protested against a landfill construction in Shies (a town in Arkhangelsk oblast). He lost his mandate through a court order at the governor’s request. The case stemmed from seven VKontakte posts made between October 2022 and February 2023. During a search, all his equipment was confiscated, and restrictive measures were imposed by the court. On 21 June 2022, Adnobaev was fined 30,000 rubles (~US$300) for an administrative offence related to discrediting the army for posting a photo on VKontakte with a sign reading «NO TO WAR» (Art. 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code).

Shuya (Ivanovo region)

Sergey Veselov, 53.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code and the section on Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code.

Syktyvkar

Nikita Tushkanov, 28, former schoolteacher in Mikun.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Zelenodolsk (Republic of Tatarstan)

Andrei Bogdanov, 60.

For further details, see the section on Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code.

Tselinnoe village (Kurgan Oblast)

Alexey Filyugin, a resident of the Ust'-Uiskoe village, 33.

For further details, see the section about Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

We are also aware of another criminal case initiated under the same part of the article against an unknown person, the details are not disclosed.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Simferopol

Andrei Belozerov, 45, a former professor at Belogorsk Technological College

He is currently under house arrest. The social media post that resulted in the opening of the case was dated October 9th, 2022, and said «Innocent children and women of Ukraine have been bombed for 8 years in Donbas by Russian Military Forces turning their guns away from the frontlines and towards Donetsk. And yet again, for the past six months, Russian Military Forces have been bombing Ukrainian cities and killing Ukrainian residents.» Earlier, Belozerov was found guilty under the same administrative article (Part 1 Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) for playing a video with the song «Bayraktar» for his students at the technical college. Following the students’ complaint against the professor, he was arrested for 13 days under part 1 Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, «Displaying prohibited symbols» and later was fired. On October 28th, Belozerov was once again placed under administrative arrest for 14 days under the same Article for displaying prohibited symbols, this time for posting the song «Chervona Kalina» on VKontakte. He was beaten during the arrest. On March 22, 2023, Belozerov was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 rubles.

Belozerov is represented by an OVD-Info lawyer.

Dmitry Kozlya

Details are unknown. On 31 May 2022, Kozlya was fined 45,000 thousand rubles (US$ 471) under a similar article of the Administrative Code (Article 20.3.3) for comments he left on Facebook. As part of the criminal case, Kozlya was taken into custody. On October 19, 2023, the court sentenced him to one year in a general regime penal colony.

Daniil Seregin, 47.

The case against Seregin was opened because of Facebook posts under the pseudonym «Afigo Baltasar». Which posts exactly are in question is still unknown. On his Facebook page, Seregin regularly spoke out in support of Ukraine, criticised the Russian military invasion and reposted videos by Ukrainian media. Marijuana was found at his home, which led to another case, it is still unknown under which article. Seregin was taken into custody. In April 2023, he was fined 40,000 rubles (US$ 410) under an administrative article on discrediting the Russian armed forces (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). According to the Simferopol District Court, the man, while in a public place, criticised the Russian army and shouted that NATO troops would soon enter Crimea. In addition, Seregin was prosecuted under articles on disrespecting state (Part 3 of Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and on public demonstration of the symbols of an extremist organisation (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Yalta

Igor Rylov, 35.

According to the investigation, while intoxicated he shouted slogans discrediting the activities of the Russian army at the Sadovaya public transport stop. He was detained by FSB officers. The press service of the Investigative Committee distributed a video in which the man pleaded guilty during interrogation and apologised to the servicemen. In April and May 2022, Rylov was fined 30,000 and 35,000 rubles respectively under the administrative article for discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code), the latter for shouting «Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!» In November, he was fined 10,000 rubles in a criminal case for a series of petty thefts: according to the verdict, Rylov stole cans of Red Bull and various snacks from the «PUD» supermarket seven times until he was detained while trying to take out a bottle of «Perepelka Derevenskaya» vodka. On March 15, 2023, Rylov was given a suspended sentence of one year and two months with three years' probation.

Sudak

Person wishing to remain anonymous, 45.

Details of his case are unknown. In October 2022, he was sentenced to a fine of 30 000 RUR (US $370) under the article for discrediting the Russian Army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for five posts on his Facebook. A non-custodial sentence was handed down on June 28, 2023, the details of which are also unknown.

A case under the same part of this article was also initiated in the occupied territory of the Kherson region against a 32-year-old resident of the village of Sivashskoye. In July 2023, he was fined 30 thousand rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code), he repeatedly spoke out against the war three days after the fine, which was the reason for the initiation of a criminal case.

It was reported that a criminal case under the same article was launched in Yaroslavl against teacher, lawyer and environmental activist, Andrey Akimov. However, this information has not been confirmed.

The information that a criminal case had been brought under this article against Yan Kulikov, a resident of the Kostroma region and owner of a bookshop, has also not been confirmed.

 

Part 2, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code: Discrediting of the armed forces which resulted in causing harm

Public actions directed at discrediting the use of Russian armed forces for the purposes of defending the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintaining international peace and security, including public calls to prevent the use of the Russian armed forces for the purposes listed above or public calls directed at discrediting the execution by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for the purposes listed above, as well as at discrediting the provision by volunteer formations, organisations or persons of assistance in the performance of tasks assigned to the Russian armed forces, which resulted in death by negligence and (or) causing harm to the health of citizens, property, mass violations of public order and (or) public security, or interfering with the functioning or cessation of the functioning of critical infrastructure facilities, transport or social infrastructure, credit organizations, energy facilities, industry or communications. Punishable with 5 years in prison. Introduced in the Criminal Code in March 2022, the provision on activities of state bodies abroad was added in April, and on volunteer formations and assistance to the armed forces in March 2023. Initially, the maximum penalty was five years' imprisonment; in March 2023, the penalty was increased.

Novosibirsk

Alexey Pinigin, 26.

The case was opened for painting «No to war» on a monument. Pinigin was detained and told that he was recognised by street cameras. His house was searched. Later Pinigin was released after signing an agreement not to leave the city. He was also among those who were detained at an antiwar demonstration on February 27th, 2022. The website of the Novosibirsk regional court also showed that a fine of 9,000 rubles issued to the activist was reversed. The fine was related to his participation in an antiwar protest on March 6th, 2022, and was issued for violating the heightened alert regime (Part 1, Article 20.6.1 of the Criminal Code). It was reversed after coronavirus restrictions were lifted in the region over the summer.

Novocherkassk

Ivan Churinov, neurologist, 32, and Anton Bykov.

Churinov works in an emergency hospital and has 11 years of experience. According to investigators, Churinov and Bykov «between 11.09.2022 and 18.09.2022 at night drove to various locations in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Aksaysky district, and the city of Novocherkassk, Rostov oblast, and, aware of the illegal nature and publicity of their actions, deliberately threw rolls of paint in the direction of banners depicting participants of the special military operation». Churinov was later detained. The press office of the Novocherkassk City Court said that Churinov had committed the above act together with «B.», whose case is being investigated separately. Novosti-on-Don published a video by an FSB officer in which a man calling himself Ivan Churinov said that he had acted under the influence of an acquaintance who had emigrated to another country and that he had decided to go to war as a volunteer. In the video, Churinov talks about banners in Novocherkassk (previously it was mentioned that the banners were located at the intersection of Kharkiv Highway and Tramvaynaya Street, and on Baklanov Avenue — and another on the M-4 Don highway near the settlement of Shchepkin (Aksaysky district). A similar case was previously reported in Rostov-on-Don. On May 31, 2023, Churinov was sentenced to a fine of 800,000 rubles.

Kirov

Vladimir Vladimirov, 45.

According to the investigation, on 17 August 2023, he approached the mobile contract service selection station, hid his face under the T-shirt, and set the tent on fire, then stepped away, revealed his face, filmed the fire on his phone camera, and sent the video to other people. It is stated that he did this because «he’s against the SMO (special military operation)». Police arrested Vladimirov on site. The next day he was put under administrative arrest for four days under part 1 Article 20.1 of the Code on Administrative Offences (disorderly conduct). Oktyabrsky district court of Kirov agreed with the police claiming the man was «loudly screaming, swearing excessively and swinging his hands». Later it became known that the criminal case was initiated.

Tolyatti

Alexey Arbuzenko, 46.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code.

 

There was another case initiated under the same paragraph of the same article of the Criminal Code, against a resident of the village Nerchinsky Zavod in the Trans-Baikal Region. According to the investigation, he participated in beating up a soldier who had fought in the war in Ukraine. In addition, the defendant was charged with intentional infliction of minor harm to health (Article 115 of the Criminal Code) and deliberate destruction of or damage to property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code). We do not include this case in the statistics since, apparently, the persecuted person used violence against another person, not with the goal of protecting himself or others, and it is far from obvious that his actions were motivated by an anti-war position.

 

Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code (part unknown)

Information about the case in Vladivostok became known after a search was conducted on March 9th, 2023, at the residence of local activist Alexei Galimov. The apartment door was forced open, and Galimov was ordered to lie down on the floor, while a law enforcement officer pressed him down with a knee. The case was initiated due to several publications on Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks. Galimov’s current status is unknown, he was released after the search. No information about any administrative cases against him for discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) was found. On June 12th, Galimov made his first social media post in three months, and the following day, the police came to his mother’s residence and the previously searched apartment. Galimov was informed about this by neighbours and relatives. He decided not to wait for another encounter with the law enforcement and has left Russia.

Rehabilitation of Nazism (Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code)

Part 2, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code: Dissemination of deliberately false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War by abuse of office, on the Internet, etc.

Denial of facts established in the sentences handed down by the International Military Tribunal for the trial and punishment of major war criminals from the European Axis countries (Nuremberg Tribunal), approbation of the crimes revealed in these decision, as well as the deliberate spreading of false information about the activities of the USSR during World War II or about veterans of the Great Patriotic War, committed publicly, by an individual through abuse of office, by a group of individuals by prior agreement, or by an organised group, using mass media or information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet, or by fabricating evidence for the prosecution. Punishable with imprisonment of a term of up to five years.

Krasnoyarsk

Igor Orlovsky, 52. At various times he did turnery, sculpture enlargement, ceramics, dough kneading, industrial climbing, finishing work. He was interested in speleology and published a self-made magazine.

The case was opened following his comment on VKontakte from March 29, 2022, in which Orlovsky argued with the «zombified nation’s mantra» of the victory over fascism, and compared the politics of Hitler and Stalin before the Second World War. At the end of his comment, he stated that «Stalin was just as aggressive as Hitler». This case was separated out from the case initiated for calls to extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and public calls for terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code), see details below. Later, the case of «fakes» about the Armed Forces (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) was added to the case of the rehabilitation of Nazism: according to the investigation, in March Orlovsky published a post on VKontakte saying that the Russian Armed Forces had hit a theatre in Mariupol, and in April he published two other comments. In one of them he said that Russian soldiers were killing civilians and destroying towns, and in the other he said that, according to the former Ukrainian ombudsman, Russian soldiers had raped a boy and a girl in Bucha. In April 2023, Orlovsky’s charges in this episode were increased being reclassified as «spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces with a motive of political hatred» (Article 207.3(e) (2) of the Criminal Code) because of his «oppositional views». The case is already in the court.

Saint Petersburg

Mikhail Belousov, former assistant professor at the Institute of History of Saint Petersburg State University, 37.

He was fired from the university on June 2, 2023. Earlier, pro-war activists had accused him of making statements such as that «it is only possible to use „SVO“ [special military operation] symbols in the context of post-irony» and that «open and direct approval of ‘Ruscism’ (Russian fascism) is disgusting.» Belousov supposedly wrote these phrases in Telegram on the occasion of creating a spontaneous memorial dedicated to a student who died in the war against Ukraine. Criminal charges against Belousov were prompted by a statement he made at a meeting of the university’s student council in February 2023: according to the investigation, he denied the connection between Hitler’s race theory and the events of the Great Patriotic War and, on top of that, declared that he saw signs of a falsification of history in several topics about the Great Patriotic War, which, however, could not be discussed because such action is punishable by law.

 

The same article was also used to bring a case against Ukrainian TV presenter Fakhruddin Sharafmal. For more details, see the section on cases opened against Ukrainian public figures.

 

Part 3 of Article 354.1: Disseminating disrespectful information about commemorative dates or desecrating symbols of military glory

Disseminating information that expresses obvious disrespect towards the days of military glory, memorable dates related to the Defence of the Fatherland, the desecration of symbols dedicated to Russian military glory, insulting the memory of the Defenders of the Fatherland, or denigrating the honour and dignity of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, if committed publicly, may result in a punishment of up to three years imprisonment.

Ulan-Ude

Unknown person, 16.

According to the investigation, in the early morning of March 24, 2023, an unknown person climbed onto the monument to the Red Guards and Partisans who fell in the battles for the liberation of Verkhneudinsk in 1920, proceeded to dance on top of the monument, making «indecent gestures» and shouting «Glory to Ukraine!».

Pavlovo (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

An unidentified person

According to the investigation, on the 11th of May, 2023, the defendant confronted a 17-year-old teenager, demanding the removal of a St. George’s ribbon. When the teenager refused, the defendant forcibly took off the ribbon and threw it on the ground. The teenager in question happens to be the son of a Federal Judge, as reported by Mash, a Russian online newspaper. The article further reveals that the defendant referred to the teenager as «rusnya.» (a derogatory collective term for Russians). Life outlet reported that, on the day preceding the incident, the defendant shouted to the teenager, «Glory to Ukraine, glory to America, Russia will rot».

 

Part 4 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code: Dissemination of disrespectful information about days or desecreation of symbols of military glory

The dissemination of information about military glory days and other commemorated dates in Russia related to the defending the Fatherland that expresses a pronounced disrespect to society, as well as a desecration of the symbols of Russian military glory, insulting the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland or the humiliation of the honor and dignity of Great Patriotic War veterans, committed publicly, in connection to a conspiracy by a group of persons or an organized group, or having used public media, information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet. Punishable with up to 5 years in prison.

Norilsk

Danila Chumak, 19.

According to investigators, he published two videos in a messenger app in which he burned a Saint George ribbon and incited others to follow his example. Investigators claim that the defendant is «a supporter of the extremist Ukrainian organization „Praviy Sector.“ He is being held in a pre-trial detention center.

Later it became known that Chumak is also a subject in a criminal case for public calls for terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). He is accused of posting «videos with calls to terrorist actions …> during the Victory Day celebration.» Investigators connect the man to Praviy Sector. He admitted his guilt. According to the latest reports, he was also charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organisation (Part 2, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) — apparently because of his alleged ties to Right Sector. On March 28, 2023, Chumak was sentenced, details unknown.

Petrozavodsk

Sergey Drugov, author of the Telegram channel «War is cringe».

On September 17, 2022, Drugov’s home was searched. At that moment, it was supposed that the case was initiated not only for disseminating disrespectful information about The Days of Military Honour but also for spreading «knowingly false information» about the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) but this information was not confirmed later on. Two days later, when trying to leave Petrozavodsk, Drugov was arrested. The reason for initiating the case was the repost of the «Feminist Anti-War Resistance» (FAS) publication. In the FAS post, activists criticized the Victory cult amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine and announced alternative mourning actions for May 9, 2022. The case is currently in court. Drugov has pleaded guilty and filed a motion requesting that his case undergo a hearing under a special procedure. The public prosecutor opposed Drugov’s motion, citing some unknown materials about his state of health. The judge sided with the prosecution and appointed a general procedure for Drugov’s case hearing. On July 25 2023, Drugov was sentenced to 2 years of compulsory labour with a 3-year ban on administering any Internet resources.

Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Krai)

Kirill Pilyugin, a resident of Moscow, 40.

According to the investigation, in November 2022 he put a sticker with the word «Bucha» on the Stars of Heroes monument and sent its photo to the «Visible Protest» Telegram channel. He has been placed under house arrest.

Ryazan

Nikita Chernichkin, an animal rights activist.

He provides temporary shelter and rehabilitation to stray pets. After the beginning of the war in Ukraine, he renamed his page on Odnoklassniki to «Nikita No-to-War» and began to actively post comments. According to the prosecution, in October 2022 he posted about a Russian soldier Nikita Samoilov who died in Gostomel. After examining the case, the security forces concluded that the comment «may constitute an insult to the memory of the soldier.» Chernichkin is on personal recognizance.

Volzhsky (Samara Oblast)

Kamil Abdykanov and Alexander Vragov.

They are accused of (according to the investigation) desecrating a monument dedicated to «SVO participants» (SVO stands for the Special Military Operation) in Volzhsky village. They shouted «Glory to Ukraine!», exposed themselves, and urinated in public. In public apologies, they attributed their actions to intoxication by alcohol and claimed no intent to insult Russian military personnel. According to the Volga News, citing regional Investigating Committee press service, both have relatives of Ukrainian origin: one has a Ukrainian mother, the other a Ukrainian father-in-law.

Shuya (Ivanovo Oblast)

Sergey Veselov, 53. On October 5, 2023, he was searched in connection with a case allegedly initiated because of the video «Don’t confuse Germans with Hitlerites and Russians with Putinites». After questioning, Veselov was released. It became known that a case of discrediting the armed forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) had also been brought against him because of the same video.

By this time, Veselov was involved in two cases: vandalism (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code, see above) and defamation of the Armed Forces and insulting a judge (Part 2, Article 297 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Tyumen

David Eichendorf, developer, 23

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Kopeisk (Chelyabinsk region)

Pyotr Borovinskikh, 46

For further details, see the section on Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code.

Moscow

Bogdan Litvin, 29, and Andrei Lozitsky, 21, federal coordinators of the Vesna movement, Vasily Neustroev, member of the St Petersburg regional council of the Yabloko party, 27, Jan Ksenzhepolsky, activist from Tver, 23, and Anna Arkhipova, 25, Ekaterina Goncharova, 21, Gleb Kondratiev, 20, Makar Diakonov, 20, Timofey Martynenko, 27, Ekaterina Bushkova, 26, Lev Gyammer, editor-in-chief of Skat media and former coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Krasnodar, 22, Vladislav Sorvenkov, 25, Alexander Kashevarov, former coordinator of the Chelyabinsk branch of the movement, 20, Kira Pushkareva, 26, Anna Nazarova, 20, Mikhail Tukh, 22.

For further details, see the section on Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code.

 

Dissemination of fake information that poses threat to lives and safety (Article 207.1 of the Criminal Code)

The public dissemination of knowingly false information about circumstances that pose a threat to citizens’ lives and safety. Possible punishment: from a fine of up to 700 thousand rubles to imprisonment for up to three years.

In Chita, Alexander Fedorov was subject to a search on March 6th, 2022, — on the following day he was interrogated. In one of the connected documents, it was stated that Fedorov posted a clip on social media with the title «Mom, Dad, I didn’t want to come here: captive soldiers have been deceived by Putin.»

 

Calls for extremist activity (Article 280 of the Criminal Code)

Calls for extremist activity are punishable with up to four or five years in prison, depending on the paragraph of the article.

Vladivostok

Vadim Ignashov, sailor and Ukrainian citizen, 25.

He was detained sometime between February 27th and March 4th, 2022, for social media posts. Allegedly, he published photos and videos of dead Russian soldiers and destroyed military equipment, called for the killing of Russian troops, encouraged fellow countrymen to record the movements of Russian columns in the Kherson region and called for them to send this information to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A video in which a man calling himself Vadim Ignashov admits his guilt, apologizes and says that Banderites and Nazis have no place among the civilian population and that Russia and Ukraine are brotherly nations has since been published on the internet. On March 5th he was taken into custody. According to unconfirmed reports, he was sentenced to one year and four months in a penal colony in October 2022, the same year he was reportedly released.

Dolite Sinitsyna, resident of Nakhodka, 65.

The case was opened based on comments on Odnoklassniki with the headlines «Leave, pesky cat!» and «Russian fascism won’t be shown on federal TV channels». An expert appointed by the investigators found that these publications incited violence against the Russian military. In September 2022, the Federal Security Service searched the pensioner’s home and took her to Vladivostok, where the court imposed pre-trial restrictions prohibiting her from engaging in certain actions. Her court appointed lawyer advised her to plead guilty. In November, Sinitsyna was sent for an in-patient psychiatric examination: doctors at the Regional Psychiatric Hospital identified her as having «psychoorganic syndrome» and «schizophrenia.»

Alexander Poletaev, Artem city resident, 20.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Tyumen

Kirill Martyushev, 23.

On March 5th, 2022, his house was searched. According to investigators, on February 24th Martyushev «recorded and posted a video assessing the activities of the police, which contained signs of inciting violence against a group of individuals united by service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.» He did this on the public Telegram group #NOWAR while walking through Tyumen. It later emerged that Martyushev had expressed the view that the security forces who had used violence against the demonstrators should end up in the electric chair. On that day, he participated in an anti-war rally. He is now in a pre-trial detention center. On January 30, 2023, he was sentenced to three years in a penal colony.

Konakovo (Tver Region)

Andrey Trofimov, writer and activist, 56.

By his own account, he worked on the development of spacecraft, was a driver and an editor of the criminal section of the NTV website. He has been published in Russkii Zhurnal and Kasparov.ru on more than one occasion. Since the final years of the Soviet regime, he has taken part in protest rallies in Moscow. Detained on May 7th in a settlement near Konakovo city. On May 8th, he appeared to be at Pre-trial Detention Center № 1 in Tver. Trofimov’s son suggests that the grounds for his father’s prosecution are his antiwar posts on social media platform VK. It later became known that Trofimov had also been prosecuted for spreading «fakes» about the Russian army (Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), details unknown. From September 13 to October 18, 2022, Trofimov was on hunger strike in prison, demanding «an immediate cessation of hostilities by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine and the immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops and other forces beyond the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine». In March 2023, Trofimov’s letter from the pre-trial detention centre was made public, in which he stated that after the declaration of war he was ready to take up arms, and that he was also charged with preparing to participate or attempting to participate in an illegal armed formation (Part 2, Article 208, with application of Part 30 of the Criminal Code) because he had applied to join the Russian Freedom Legion. The case is already in the court. The judge closed the proceedings at the request of the prosecutor on the grounds that the information about the Legion revealed during the hearings could «compromise the security of the Russian Federation». On July 28, 2023, Trofimov was fined 40,000 rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the armed forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for showing sheets of paper with the words «NO WAR» and «PUTIN IS A DICKHEAD» from a glass cage in the courtroom and planning to show the audience posters with the words «GLORY TO UKRAINE» and «FREE NAVALNY». On September 17, Trofimov began a hunger strike, demanding that incoming and outgoing correspondence be censored strictly in accordance with internal regulations and that all letters delayed by the censor since early July for reasons not specified in the regulations be delivered. On October 17, 2023, Trofimov was sentenced to 10 years in a strict regime penal colony.

Tver

Unknown person

According to investigators, the case was opened because of comments in the Telegram channel «Zakroy za mnoi Tver» during an anti-draft demonstration on September 21st, 2022. The comments suggested that the police dispersing the protest be sent to the front, included the acronym «ACAB» and an aggressive call to commit violence against police. The person signed an agreement not to leave the city. It was reported that marijuana was found in his possession during a search. Apparently, the case was also opened under the article on drug possession (Part 1, Article 228 of the Criminal Code). On December 28, the court sent the case back to the prosecutor’s office, but on March 1, the Court of Appeal overturned this decision and sent the case back for reconsideration. On March 27, the man was given a suspended sentence of two and a half years.

Tomsk

Leonid Rybakov, IT-company director.

According to investigators, in March 2022 he made a post expressing support for the Ukrainian Army. He was released on personal recognisance. The precautionary measure is unknown. In addition, the defence claims that Rybakov was fined 10,000 rubles under Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences for the post that triggered the criminal case. Rybakov pleaded guilty. The case is already in the court. The defendant applied for the case to be tried in a special procedure without examination of the evidence, but the court refused.

Rybakov is also charged with discrediting the Armed Forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, see above).

Krasnoyarsk

Igor Orlovsky, 52. At various times he did turnery, sculpture enlargement, ceramics, dough kneading, industrial climbing, finishing work. He was interested in speleology and published a self-made magazine.

The case was opened for a comment on VKontakte reading, «Death to the Russian occupiers! Peace to Ukraine and to the whole world!» The case also includes a charge for calling for terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The FSB considered the comment «Death to the old fascist vovka putin» to constitute a call for terrorism. Orlovsky has signed an agreement not to leave the city. On March 24, 2023, he was sentenced to three years in prison. In addition, a case on disseminating deliberately false information about the activities of the USSR during the Second World War (Paragraph «c, » Part 2 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code), with which the case of «fakes» about the Armed Forces (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) was later merged, was separated from this case into a separate proceeding, please see above.

Rossosh (Voronezh Region)

Alexei Katseval, 30.

According to investigators, he published the text «[obscene word] the occupants» on a Telegram channel, implying «Russian military and law enforcement officers participating in the Special Military Operation» under the term «invaders (occupiers)». On December 21, 2022, the court delivered its verdict, the details are not known.

Anadyr

Dmitry Aritkulov, 44.

On December 18th, 2022, he was detained in a case concerning the rehabilitation of Nazism (Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code) for messages posted on social networks. The details are unknown. The next day, a case concerning calls for extremist activities was opened against him over a comment to a post in a Telegram channel where he wished success to Ukraine and also wrote: «Death to the occupants, freedom to the peoples! Greetings from Chukotka!» Aritkulov was taken into custody. In October 2023 it became known that a resident of Anadyr was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for incitement to extremism and public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and abuse of the flag or coat of arms of the Russian Federation (Article 329 of the Criminal Code). Apparently this is about Aritkulov. His proposal to create a new coat of arms for Russia with a mop, sledgehammer and rake could be considered an abuse of the coat of arms. It was also reported that the convict criticised MPs, the military and called for the assassination of the president. The report did not mention the rehabilitation of Nazism.

Irkutsk

Ilya Podkamenny, activist, 18.

Podkamenny was detained in November 2022. According to investigators, he wrapped copper wire around the railroad tracks and attached leaflets handwritten on notebook sheets to the tracks. The leaflets carried the slogans «Death to the katsaps!» (a derogatory term for Russians), «Putinists will hang instead of leaves» and «Freedom for Siberia!» Podkamenny admitted his guilt. In December, it became known that a case concerning preparing and organizing a terrorist attack (presumably, Article 205 with the application of Article 30, and Part 4, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code) was brought against him. Podkamenny is suspected of collecting funds to prepare an explosion at a local military registration and enlistment office. It was later reported that the case also included articles on training for terrorist activities (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code) and public justification of terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The case is already before the court.

Rostov-on-Don

Sergey Reznik, journalist, 46.

The grounds for initiating proceedings was a post with comments by anonymous lawyers on a mass shooting at the Irkutsk Oblast draft board posted in the Rostov_com Telegram channel. It was about Ruslan Zinin, 25, who wounded a military commissar using a sawn-off shotgun and was subsequently arrested by the Rosgvardia. Linguists who conducted the examination saw a «justification of the ideology of violence» and «incitement to commit violence against military commissars». Reznik insists that the prosecution has no evidence of his affiliation to those comments. Earlier, a case concerning disseminating false information about the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, see above) had been filed against Reznik.

Kostroma

Vladislav Sinitsa, convicted in the «Moscow Case», 33.

In 2019, he was sentenced to five years in a penal colony for calling for extremist activity as the result of an aggressive tweet saying that the children of security service officials should be killed. According to the investigation, while he was in the hospital at correctional colony No. 1 in the Kostroma region, he started a new Twitter account and wrote tweets negatively characterizing servicemembers and employees of Rosgvardiya, as well as tweets containing calls «for acts of violence against Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation in general.» The Net Freedom Project noted that the account from which Sinitsa was alleged to have published these tweets was registered in October 2022, and the first tweet was a quote from the tweet for which he is currently serving time. «From October 13 to October 24, about fifty tweets appeared on the account, since then it has not been updated any further and does not have a single follower. All this looks like clear fabrication, » human rights activists noted.

Yekaterinburg

Mikhail Klimarev, the head of the“Internet Protection Society», 50

The criminal case was initiated due to a comment that urged Ukrainian soldiers not to take Rosgvardiya (Russian National Guard) officers captive. In early March 2022, a video appeared on the Telegram channel «ZaTelekom». In the video officers were kicking and beating a citizen who was lying on the ground with batons, a stun gun was also being used. The video contained an aggressive caption about the Russian National Guard officers. As evidence of Klimarev being administrator of the «ZaTelekom» channel the police used a portrait examination. They compared images from the passport database to a video posted on the Nag.Company Instagram account. «Net Freedoms» notes that the credibility of the Instagram account is not verified in any way in documentation. Klimarev left Russia. On October 25, 2022, the court arrested him in absentia. Klimarev was placed on the international wanted list.

Voronezh

Andrey Biryukov, 35.

Detained on July 28th, 2022, after being subject to a search. Later the court placed him in custody. According to his attorney Georgiy Lutskevich who signed an agreement with Biryukov’s relatives, a case is initiated on public justification of terrorism and calls to extremist activities (Section 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code.) The grounds for the case were posts on VKontakte: comments on the case of Nadezhda Belova, a Voronezh resident, who was earlier prosecuted as per the article on public justification of terrorism (according to investigators, Biryukov approved terrorist activities against the authorities and the so-called Russians) and an aggressive statement that called death upon Russia and «Rusnya.» According to Biryukov’s mother, the grounds for his persecution may be his posts about the war in Ukraine. Biryukov used to administer a site dedicated to the events in the country. According to the attorney, Biryukov’s relatives were not allowed to make visits and he was not allowed to call them until he confessed and started cooperating with the investigation. Biryukov has admitted his guilt and agreed to cooperate with the investigation. On November 9th, 2022, he was sentenced to three and a half years in a minimum security penal colony; he was also prohibited from administering Internet sites for two years.

A new case of public justification of terrorism (Part 1, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code, see below) was brought against Biryukov as a result of his speech at the trial during the appeal against his sentence.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Andrey Arkhipov, IT specialist, 34.

According to investigators, on July 16, 2022, he posted a message in his work chat that read: «Aymaks is strong. Glory to Ukraine. Invaders to the hilyaka» (hilyaka is Ukrainian for «tree branch, » in this context a call for violence against occupants). «Aymaks» is the name of the computer repair firm where Arkhipov works. The statement was interpreted as «inciting an individual to violence and physical destruction towards people belonging to the social group of 'servicemen'.»

St Petersburg

Marianella Filatova, 21. The reason for the case was a message in the Telegram chat room «Rainy City» on September 22 or 23, 2022, allegedly containing a recommendation on what to do with police cars. Searches in the case took place on May 17, 2023. It was initially reported that Filatova was being prosecuted for participation in mass riots and public justification of terrorism (see above), but this information was not confirmed at the time. She was released on personal recognisance. On October 10, 2023, Filatova was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Oleg Belousov, 54

For more details see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Novosibirsk

Mira Lushchayeva, a transgender girl and creator of an anti-war Telegram channel, 18.

Details of the case are unknown. On August 2, 2023, the FSB searched the apartment where Lushchaeva lived with her girlfriend. Both were taken for interrogation. On the same day, Dmitry Kozlov, a witness in the case of Alexander Snezhkov and Lyubov Lizunova, was interrogated in the local FSB office: he told the Taiga newspaper that the law enforcement officers had shown him two detained transgender women (presumably Lushchaeva and her girlfriend) and told him that if he «gave them a smack, ” he would not be imprisoned; Kozlov declined. The next day they were taken to the FSB office again; allegedly, in order to give them back their seized equipment. However, the officers instead forcibly took away the couple’s passports. A personal recognizance was taken from Lushchayeva.

Takhir Arslanov, 67.

For more details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Izberbash (Dagestan)

M. Abdullaev, a resident of Makhachkala.

According to the investigation, in October 2022 he published a post on VKontakte calling for the killing of Russian servicemen. He pleaded guilty. On June 26, 2023, Abdullayev was sentenced to two years of suspended sentence with a probation period of two years and a ban on administering websites for two years.

Aleksin (Tula Oblast)

Pyotr (surname unknown), resident of Novogurovsky settlement in Tula Oblast, assistant machinist at a cement plant, 34.

According to the investigators' version, in a conversation on Telegram messenger he called for acts of arsons to military recruiting offices and administrative buildings.

Bolshoi Kamen (Primorye Krai)

Ch. (name unknown)

The reason for the prosecution were two posts on «Odnoklassniki» social network in May 2022. The verdict mentions only two words from one publication that didn’t sit well with the authorities: it begins with the word «Burn…» and ends with the word «…lads!» (the word originally used, «khloptsy» means «boys» in Ukrainian, but this word also is used in Russian, especially in the Southern regions). It is also known that both posts contained links to videos. The man pleaded guilty. On May 24, he was given a suspended sentence of two years.

Kirov

Maria Rose, 32

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Perm

Ivan Legotkin, 18

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Chita

Alexander Snezhkov, 19, and Lyubov Lizunova, 16, anarchists.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code.

Kaluga

Unknown person, resident of Kirov, Kaluga Oblast.

For more details see the section on Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Kaluga

Ivan Epikhin, Russian Railways landscaper, 33.

For more details, see the section on Part 1 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Yaroslavl

Svetlana Zotova, mother of Valeriya Zotova (see below), 56.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Uglich (Yaroslavl Oblast)

Denis Popov, 21.

For more details see the section on Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Tula

Faik Khandzhigazov and Anton Zavadsky, paramedics, 28.

For more details see the section on Part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code.

Leninsk-Kuznetsky (Kemerovo Oblast)

Unknown, resident of the town of Polysayevo, 35.

For further details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Novomoskovsk (Tula Oblast)

Denis Anokhin, resident of the town of Uzlovaya, 25.

For further details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Kirovskoe village

Aleksandr Glazunov, 42.

The case appears to relate to the detention in Simferopol on September 9, 2022. According to the FSB, he «threatened to kill» Russian soldiers in a group chat on Telegram. On November 14, the Kirovskoe District Court of Crimea sentenced Glazunov to five months of compulsory labour and banned him from posting anything on the Internet for two years. According to the investigation, in July 2022 he posted a message calling for violence against Russian military personnel in a group chat room on one of the messengers. Glazunov admitted his guilt and repented. On December 22, the court of appeal added to the sentence a two-year ban on activities related to posting messages and other materials on the Internet.

Evpatoria

Sergei Yarovoy, sailor, 36.

According to investigators, he posted videos in a group chat which contained threats of violence toward Russian soldiers who participated in the «special operation», and then, while talking about the military and the 'special operation', told two members of the ship’s crew that 'Russians are occupiers and should be killed'. His pre-trial restrictions are unknown. On November 7, 2022, he was given a one-year sentence, presumably suspended.

Kerch

Olga Saenko, social worker, 30.

According to the FSB, she «called for violent actions against a group of people based on their nationality (Russians)» in a Telegram chat. In a video of her arrest, the police read her a document that said she «distributed extremist materials related to the conduct of the special military operation.» «Kryminform» reported that «after the terrorist attack on the Krymsk bridge she actively endorsed the actions of Ukraine and wished death to the Russian soldiers who participated in the special military operation in Ukraine.» Pro-government blogger Alexander Talipov said that Saenko was arrested after he denounced her to the police. Sayenko is on her own recognizance. On February 13, 2023, she was given a two-year suspended sentence with a two-year ban from teaching.

Vadim Slesarev, 48.

According to the investigation, he posted calls for the murder of Russian servicemen on his Odnoklassniki page. On May 15, 2023, he was given a suspended sentence of one and a half years.

Sergey Salosh, 50.

His case was initiated for his statements on the Internet containing calls for violence against the Russian military. Right now he is on personal recognizance.

 

A woman in Stavropol was searched concerning a case connected to the same Article. On May 6th, 2022, she stood with a sign that read: «I am for peace.» The details of the case are unknown. The woman was not left any documents after being subject to a search. Her status in this criminal case is unknown.

Citing a source in law enforcement, Kavkaz.Realii reported that two more cases on «calls for extremism» were initiated in Makhachkala after the anti-draft demonstration on September 25th, 2022. The information is still unconfirmed.

A 29-year-old resident of Simferopol was also prosecuted under this article for, according to the FSB, posting a comment in a group chat room containing Ukrainian nationalist slogans and calls for violence against members of one of the nationalities. The young man was detained in May 2022 and pleaded guilty, saying he had been influenced by Ukrainian propaganda. In November he was given a suspended sentence of one and a half years.

 

Inciting hatred (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code)

Actions inciting hatred or enmity or undermining of dignity of persons or groups of people on the basis of their sex, race, nationality, language, place of origin, religious views or membership within a social group. This action must have been undertaken publicly, including the use of mass media or information and telecommunication networks such the Internet, with the use or threat of violence using official position or by an organised group. Possible punishment: up to 6 years in prison.

Krasnogorsk (Moscow region)

A person who chose to remain anonymous, singer, 27.

According to investigators, he made an Instagram post February 24th, 2022, that displayed signs of «instigating hatred or enmity towards theRussian military forces with a threat of violence and murder.» He has fully admitted his guilt. After his arrest, a video appeared where the person apologized for the post. He remains in detainment. On June 28, 2022, he was sentenced to three years in a penal colony.

Tula Oblast (City unknown)

Dmitry Antonov

The case was launched concerning two posts: one of them, published on June 23rd, 2022, states that Putin’s regime is a «threat to the whole world, a threat that will inevitably be destroyed» as well as the fact that the author had seen Putin’s criminal nature even before the war. In another post, there is a caricature that depicts Putin as Hitler. Antonov left Russia.

Moscow

Artem Kamardin, 32, Nikolay Dayneko, 26, Egor Shtovba, 22, poets.

The basis for the case were poems read at the «Mayakovsky Readings» at Triumfalnaya square on the evening of September 25th, 2022. According to the indictment, the case was opened for inciting hatred against «members of the volunteer armed groups of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics». Dayneko and Shtovba were detained during the reading and police cited them for violating the requirements for conducting a public event (Part 5, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The next day the court fined each of them 20,000 rubles after which they were taken to speak with the Investigative Committee. On September 26th, special forces came to the apartment where Kamardin lived with two other people. The apartment was searched and violence was used against all three residents. According to Novaya Gazeta, Kamardin was beaten and raped with a dumbell inserted into his anus. After that he was forced to apologise in front of a camera for two lines of a poem that he read at Triumfalnaya square «Glory to Kievan Rus — Novorossiya, suck it!» Activist Alexandra Popova who was also in the apartment was threatened with gang rape, pieces of paper were glued to her face with super glue, and her hair was pulled out. The third resident of the apartment, Alexander Menyukov, was also beaten. After that, all three were taken to the Tverskoy district investigative department in Moscow. Later that night the other two people detained with Kamardin were released. Kamardin was taken away in an ambulance but he was not admitted to the hospital. Instead, he was placed in pretrial detention. All three poets were taken into custody. Initially, the poets were charged with incitement to hatred with the threat of violence (Paragraph «a», Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code), but then the charge was changed to incitement to hatred by an organised group (Paragraph «c», Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code) and the charge of calling for activities against state security, committed by an organised group (Part 3, Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code) was also added. The investigation considered these calls not to accept the military summons, not to sign for it, not to appear at the military recruitment office and to remember the above mentioned instructions. The investigation considered Kamardin as the organiser and Dayneko and Shtovba as accomplices. Meanwhile, Kamardin’s attorney, Leonid Solovyev, points out that, according to the case materials, these sentences were spoken by another person who is not under investigation. Dayneko entered into an agreement with the investigators and his case was transferred to a separate procedure. In March 2023, they stopped taking Kamardin for walks and giving him books. It was later reported that the walks had resumed. The cases of Kamardin and Shtovba are already in court. On May 10, 2023, Dayneko was sentenced to four years in a general regime penal colony.

Egor Shtovba is being represented by an OVD-Info attorney.

Sergey Gusev, former employee of the Forensic Centre of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Russian Federation, expert on explosives and pyrotechnics, 48.

The reason for criminal prosecution is a text message sent by Mr Gusev to his colleagues in a group chat via the online messenger Viber on February 24, 2022. The experts stated that the message contained appeals for violence against the Russian military. On 25 July 2023, the court sentenced Gusev to 3 years of compulsory labour.

Ruslan Ushakov, administrator of the «True Crime» Telegram channel, writing under the pseudonym «Denis Yevsyukov», 30.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Voronezh

Andrey Grib, live streamer. The case against him was initiated because of a live stream on Livacha.com in January 2023 during which he burned his Armed Forces ID card and made derogatory remarks about ‘Moskals’ (Ukrainian derogatory term used against Russians). The case was opened under the article on inciting hate or hostility on the Internet with the threat of violence (Paragraph 'a', Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Grib was detained, and later RIA News published a video of his apology. The Investigative Committee noted that Grib had already been prosecuted under Article 282 of the Criminal Code in 2014 and 2018. As a result of the proceedings, he received a suspended sentence and a fine. Mediazona pointed out that in 2013, a criminal case was also initiated against Grib for assaulting an acquaintance during a live stream. The case was closed after the parties reconciled. Around the same time, he was fined 20,000 (US$260) for making a false report of terrorism (Article 207 of the Criminal Code). The reason for this fine was that Grib called the police claiming there were terrorists in the apartment of an 'Internet rival' of his.

Novokuznetsk

Igor (Ingvar) Gorlanov, activist, 25.

He is under investigation for his Telegram posts in which he depicted judges and police officers negatively. In March 2022, Gorlanov was twice charged with administrative offences for «incitement to hatred or enmity and degradation of human dignity» — Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The first charges were pressed against him after a post in his Telegram channel about police officers who on February 27th, 2022 detained him while on the way to an anti-war rally, and sent him to a psychiatric institution. The court arrested Gorlanov for five days for this post. The second protocol was drawn up for a post he wrote in response to this court decision. The activist was arrested for 15 days for his second offence. He is currently under a criminal investigation. It is unknown which specific post led to the escalation of charges. Gorlanov signed a non-disclosure agreement. In November 2022, he was questioned by law enforcement — presumably because of a call he had made to the police informing them of his anti-war position. Gorlanov was also charged with insulting a police officer (Article 319 of the Criminal Code) because of their conflict at a shopping centre. The merged case is already in court.

Gorlanov had previously spent a long time conducting solitary pickets outside of the Novokuznetsk city hall. These actions have allowed him to obtain a flat that he was entitled to by law as a graduate of an orphanage. He had been arrested several times, particularly for his efforts to draw attention to the issue of punitive psychiatry in Russian orphanages. In December 2019, he was placed in a psychiatric hospital after announcing an indefinite picket to demand a personal meeting with Putin. Gorlanov told OVD-Info that he had obtained a court decision declaring this hospitalisation illegal.

Belgorod Oblast (city unknown)

Amid Yusubov, 33.

Detained in St. Petersburg. According to the investigation, he posted a message on social media «calling for unlawful actions against Russian citizens». The reason for the case of inciting hatred with the threat of violence (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code) seems to be voice messages in the chat of a Telegram channel dedicated to pop-MMA. In these messages, Yusubov expresses support for Ukrainian combatants, recalls the history of Russia’s occupation of the Caucasus, and the persecution of migrants in Moscow. He also calls on Muslims to stand up for their rights. In the second part of the recording, Yusubov calls on co-religionists to kill or humiliate a certain individual who had previously made insulting remarks about Muslims or to harm his wife and child. However, the recording doesn’t provide enough information to identify the specific person in question. There is also a on the internet where Yusubov apologises for his statements, explaining that he was under the influence of alcohol. Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin ordered to provide a report on the investigation in connection with Yusubov’s posts.

Naberezhnye Chelny

Unknown person, 38.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast)

Andrei Rossiev, 42.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Zavyalovo (Udmurt Republic)

Dmitry Talantov, lawyer and President of the Udmurt Republic Bar Association, 52.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Ukrainian TV presenters Dmytro Gordon was also prosecuted under this article. For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

 

Participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code)

Participation in the activity of a civil or religious organization, or any other organization that has been sentenced by the court to be liquidated or whose activity has been prohibited by the decision of the court due to its extremist nature and such decision has come into force, excluding organizations whose activity has been acknowledged terrorist in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation. This offence is punishable by up to six years imprisonment.

Moscow

Denis Zhuravlev, 28.

Has been posting social media posts in support of Ukraine since 24 February, 2022. He was detained and then placed under arrest for 15 days for violation of the Code of Administrative Offences, Article 20.1 (petty hooliganism). Police officers claimed that Denis used obscene words in the building hallway. While Zhuravlev was in the detention facility, the police initiated a criminal case — the charges were involvement in an extremist organization, Ksenia Sobchak’s Telegram channel «Ostorozhno, novosti!» (Warning, news!) reports. The police claim that the motivation for such charges were tickets to Minsk that had been found in his possession and anti-war posts on the social network Vkontakte. Later he was charged with involvement in an illegal armed formation (part 2, Article 208 of Criminal Code). At his trial Zhuravlev claimed he had planned to ask the Ukrainian embassy to present his letter to Zelensky. The court declared Zhuravlev insane and on 15th of August, 2022, issued an order for his mandatory hospitalization.

Yelets (Lipetsk Oblast)

Aleksey Vorochek, 26.

In May 2022, he had a police report for discrediting the Russian military (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) drawn up against him for placing a sign saying «Occupants, fasciZm» on the wall of a military recruiting office. Vorochek was fined 30,000 rubles (app. $330). According to unconfirmed reports, at the same time he was arrested for seven days for supposedly refusing to be tested for blood alcohol level. While he was in custody, the «Grom» (Thunder) special force of the local Interior Ministry department searched the houses of his and his wife’s relatives. During the search of Vorochek’s apartment, the police found a bulletproof vest, gas masks, an American flag, and Ukrainian insignia. Later he explained that he used the bulletproof vest for airsoft, the gas masks were intended for photoshoots, the flag was a decoration, and he had bought the insignia because he is half-Ukrainian. He was accused of having ties to the Right Sector and was charged with preparing to participate in the activities of a terrorist organization (part 2 of Article 282.2 and part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). Vorochek also reported that when he was being arrested, Dmitriy Peregudov of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and special forces officers forced him to sing the Russian anthem, threatened him with rape, and attempted to force him to perform oral sex in the police van. After one day of administrative detention he was taken into custody. At the court hearings for the selection or extension of a measure of restraint, Vorochek reported the tortures; however, the court ignored these statements. On July 2023, he was sentenced to 1 year and 11 months in prison. He soon was released because of having served lengthy detention. He was also assigned 6 months of limitation of liberty.

 

Public justification of terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code

Public calls to carry out terrorist activities, the public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism. Possible punishment is up to five years in prison.

Kaluga

Ivan Epikhin, Russian Railways landscaper, 33.

A case has also been initiated on calls to extremist activity (Part 1 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of Russian Federation). The reason was anti-war leaflets, which Epikhin, according to investigators, posted on the street in the village of Tovarkovo. In the leaflets, Crimea was referred to as Ukrainian, and the Russian regime called ‘fascist’. Epikhin has also been charged with illegal possession of explosives (Part 1, Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code), the details of which are unknown. The three charges were consolidated into one case. Epikhin is in custody. He fully admitted his guilt. On July 7, 2023, Epikhin was sentenced to three years in a general regime penal colony and banned from activities related to website administration for one year. On October 3, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence by three months.

Ostashkov (Tver Oblast)

Alexei Sukhobokov, loader, 36.

The investigation suggested that he rejoiced over the explosion on the Crimean Bridge in a conversation with his colleagues. He was placed in custody. The evidence of Sukhobokov’s verbal statement is his colleagues' testimony. Lawyer Valery Luzin told Avtozak LIVE that the witnesses were being pressured. At the initiation of the criminal case, Sukhobokov was under administrative arrest: he was sentenced to seven days detention for displaying prohibited symbols (Part 1 Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The man was found guilty of drawing the symbol of the Azov battalion on the wooden door of a warehouse on August 25, 2022, and a swastika on a dirty car on October 5, 2022. On October 12, the investigators questioned Sukhobokov at the detention centre. The interview text said that he was «fond of fascist ideology» and «wears fascist decoration». At the same time his colleagues from Prestige LLC were also questioned. «Everyone kept saying the same thing: Alexei repeatedly expressed his Nazi views, drew swastikas, Azov symbols, and once put a picture of Hitler on the desktop of his corporate computer, ” writes Avtozak LIVE. The court sentenced Sukhobokov to two and a half years in a penal colony settlement.

Voronezh

Andrey Biryukov, 35.

According to the announcement about the launch of a criminal case, during a court hearing at the Military Court of Appeal at Vlasikha, where the court considered a complaint about the sentence related to the first case against Biryukov — over the calls for extremism (Part 2 Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and public rehabilitation of terrorism on the Internet (Part 2 Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) (see above) — Biryukov, over a video call from Voronezh Detention Center 3, claimed that he «actively promotes any terrorist acts at any state military facilities of the Russian Federation.»

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Yaroslav Levchenko, trawler fishing specialist, 37.

Details of the charges are unknown. The court ruling about Levchenko’s detention says that he «expressed his intention to participate in hostilities on the territory of the Russian Federation or abroad against the armed forces and interests of the Russian Federation and to commit crimes on the territory of the Russian Federation with the help of firearms in his possession». Levchenko’s friends and relatives, who say that he held anti-war views, claim that the criminal case against him was initiated after he tried to break up a fight on the ship and got hit in the head with a bottle by one of the people involved in the fight. When he came to the police to report the assault, he was told that someone had denounced him for not supporting the war and expressing sympathy for Ukraine. In the court ruling about Levchenko’s detention, his attacker and the ship’s captain are listed as witnesses. Levchenko was fired from the fishing company (according to other sources, he quit), and he was given a negative reference for the court by the company. A criminal case was also initiated against the person who assaulted Levchenko.

Vladimir

Artem Kirasirov, a former graduate student at Vladimir State University.

The reason for the prosecution was leaflets calling for «violent actions against state figures.» Kirasirov told the publication «Dovod» that it was a protest against the military invasion of Ukraine. During the investigation he was under house arrest. Kirasirov was expelled from the postgraduate program because he was not able to pay the tuition fees. On 29 June 2023 Kirasirov was sentenced to a fine of 200,000 rubles (US$2,000).

 

Public justification of terrorism on the Internet (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code)

Public incitement to the commiting of terrorist acts or the public justification of terrorism or terrorist propaganda made with the use of mass media or information and telecommunication networks including the Internet. Possible punishment: up to 7 years in prison.

Kazan

Andrey Boyarshinov, PhD in Biology, former employee of Kazan Federal University, 39.

Detained after a search on March 17th as a suspect in a criminal case involving mass disorder (Part 1.1, Article 212 of the Criminal Сode, see above). Taken away in an unknown direction directly after his release on March 19th. On March 20th it became known that Boyarshinov is under house arrest in connection to a case of public justification of terrorism. The grounds for opening this case were posts made on Protestnaya Kazan on March 4th and 9th during antiwar protests. On March 29th, Boyarshinov was brought to a pre-trial detention center. The case is already in court. Boyarshinov has not been brought to court twice since the administration of Samara pre-trial detention centre No. 1 declared that Boyarshinov was not in their custody, although according to lawyers who have visited him and people who have received letters from him, he is there.

Andrei Grigoriev, journalist, 46.

The case was opened for a video «Paint and a kennel for the Russian ambassador to Poland» on the YouTube channel Obiektiv-TV about an attack on the Russian ambassador Sergey Andreev in Warsaw. On May 9th, 2022, Andreev was doused with paint at the gravesites of Soviet soldiers. On November 18, Grigoriev was arrested in absentia in the same case and was put on the wanted list. On August 17, 2022, a number of journalists collaborating with Idel.Realii were searched in connection with the case. Several people were also searched on September 9, October 10 and December 1. Earlier, it had been erroneously reported that journalist Aisylu Kadyrova was also a suspect in the case, but it turned out that she was a witness.

Petrozavodsk

Irina Bystrova, head of an art studio, 57.

Bystrova was prosecuted under two articles: the public justification of terrorism and the dissemination of knowingly false information about the activities of the Russian armed forces (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) due to her anti-war posts on social media (initially it was reported that the case had been opened under Part 1 of Article 207.3, but it later became known that Bystrova had been charged with dissemination of false information with hatred motives — Paragraph «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to Sever.Realii, «the cases were initiated on the basis of two posts by Bystrova on her social media accounts. One showed a picture of Putin in flames and wished him to burn in hell. The second spoke of the injustice of the war with Ukraine and called for it to be stopped and for weapons to be turned „against the gang in the Kremlin“. To illustrate her point, Bystrova published pictures and videos from the Mariupol hospital, where Ukrainian children were killed and maimed by shelling». The court imposed on her a precautionary measure in the form of a ban on certain actions. On December 27, 2022, Bystrova was sentenced to a fine of 600,000 rubles to be paid over five years. The hearing was held in closed session.

Veliky Novgorod

Irina Nelson (Dmitrieva), resident of Novaya Derevnya, entrepreneur and mother of four, 35.

The case was launched in relation to a range of comments made on social media platform vk.com from August 2021 to March 2022. Two of them contain objections to the war and to sending Russian soldiers to Ukraine. On October 18th, 2022, the court fined Nelson 300 thousand rubles. About six months later, when Nelson’s son turned 14 and the family tried to get him a bank card, they discovered that his details had been blocked under the Terrorist Financing Act.

Perm

Ivan Legotkin

According to investigators, on February 27th, 2022, he left a comment in the «Perm 36.6» chat room in which he wished that «the Russian people would revolt against the government». The text was also seen as a «sign of incitement to commit violent acts, rebellion and conspiracy against Vladimir Putin.» Initially, a case was opened for incitement to extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code), but then the text was re-examined and found to contain «signs of incitement to violent acts, rebellion and conspiracy against Vladimir Putin», after which a case was also opened for justification of terrorism. The precautionary measure is unknown.

Moscow

Anna Biryukova, former head of sociology at FBK, 31.

She appears in the case against the supporters of Alexey Navalny in connection to the statements in a channel «Popular Politics» (see above), namely her statements on arsons of military draft offices. Ivan Zhdanov (34), Ruslan Shaveddinov (26) and Leonid Volkov (41), Navalny’s associates, are also prosecuted under the same article in the same case.

Oleg Seliverov, anti-war activist, 27.

The details are unknown. On February 3, 2023, he was searched, detained and taken into custody the next day. The media reported that Oleg Seliverov was being investigated for involvement in the Nexta Live telegram channel.

Filipp Medvedev, 25.

The case was opened because of an audio message in the Telegram channel with the call to «bomb» the Federal Security Service building with «9K720 Iskander» short-range ballistic missiles. According to Medvedev, with his post he expressed an emotional assessment «with regards to militarised politics». Medvedev was taken into custody. Earlier, he was sent to detention 3 times for 15 days on account of demonstrating Nazi symbolism (Part 1 Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The first arrest happened because of his VKontakte profile picture with the flag of the Russian Liberation Army (also known as the Vlasov Army). The second time he was arrested because of a tweet with a picture of members of the Ku Klux Klan that he posted in response to a news story about a woman being robbed in South Africa. Another arrest was related to a post about the fight against Zionism. In November 2022, Medvedev was convicted under the Article on the intentional damage to property (Part 1 Article 167 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because he damaged a vehicle with a sticker with the letter Z. Medvedev tried to leave Russia twice but was unsuccessful. On August 15, 2023, Medvedev was sentenced to four years and two months in a general regime penal colony on the case of public justification of terrorism.

In April 2023, it emerged that a case had also been opened against Medvedev for calling for a rally in support of Alexei Navalny on January 23, 2021. As it later turned out, the case was initiated under the article on mass riots (Article 212 of the Criminal Code — apparently under its third part on incitement to mass riots). However, the case was dropped because the statute of limitations for the offence in question (two years) had already expired by the time the case was initiated.

Elena Rodina, lawyer.

Rodina had social media accounts with a small audience, where she spoke up against Russian military aggression in Ukraine, criticized Vladimir Putin’s regime and called for a coup in Russia. She also encouraged Turks to «complete the Armenian genocide» because Margarita Simonyan, a Russian propagandist, is Armenian. In December 2022, Rodina was called in to the prosecutor’s office, where an administrative case under Article «Incitement to hatred or enmity» (Article 20.3.1 of Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation) was initiated against her. In February 2023, she was fined under this article for a series of posts calling for a coup «aimed to insult the dignity of a person or group, incite to hatred or enmity towards the President of Russian Federation and the Russian government.» Rodina has deleted her posts on Telegram and VK. On March 30, she was taken into custody. The grounds for the criminal charges are unknown. On July 17, the court dismissed Rodina’s case and ordered that she be sent for compulsory treatment. Rodina also wrote to her correspondents that she had not received any clothes or food since her arrest in March, and that her daughter had become a witness for the prosecution. On July 25, a person who tried to send a letter to Rodina told OVD-Info that she had disappeared from the pre-trial detention centre where she was supposed to be held until August.

Maria Menshikova, editor of the DOXA internet revue.

According to the Telegram channel Baza, the case was opened following a post in DOXA community on Vkontakte social network containing appeals to write letters of support towards individuals detained for setting fire to military registration and enlistment offices. Menshikova currently resides outside of Russia.

Aleksey Panin, actor, 45.

A case against Panin was initiated for a social media post from October 2022, in which he expressed satisfaction with the explosion on the Crimean bridge. Panin has been living outside of Russia since 2020. He was put on the wanted list.

Evgenia (Zhenya) Berkovich, theatre director, 38, and Svetlana Petriychuk, playwright, 43.

Berkovich publicly spoke out against the war and published her anti war poems on social media. The reason for initiating the case was the play «Finist Yasny Sokol» («Finist the Falcon») by Petriychuk which was put on by Berkovich in 2020. The play is about women who devoted their lives to Islamist radicals. In 2022, it won the Golden Mask Award in two categories. On the 4th of May, 2023, searches were conducted at Berkovich’s apartment in Moscow and at her parents’ and grandmother’s home in Saint Petersburg as part of the case. Petriychuk was detained at an airport on the same day. Alexander Andrievich, director of the theatre project «Docheri SOSO» («SOSO’s Daughters», under this project Berkovich staged her performance), was interrogated as a witness. On the following day, Berkovich and Petriychuk were taken into custody. On May 31, it emerged that Petriychuk had been placed on the register as being likely to commit terrorist and extremist offences.

Alexander Kolomiets, 37.

According to investigators, in September 2022, he published several comments on VKontakte, a Russian social network, under a post about the progress of partial military mobilisation in the community «Liberty News» where he called for «taking knives and Molotov cocktails.» On January 1, 2023, Kolomiets was detained in Murmansk, where he was on business. He told OVD-Info that he was hit several times during his detention, after which he limped for a week. Kolomiets was brought to Moscow, where he was taken into custody. He pleaded guilty. On April 25, the court sentenced him to a fine of 300,000 rubles (US$ 3,700).

Timofey Rudenko, former military psychologist, 30.

Since May 2022, Rudenko has been repeatedly detained and then arrested on administrative charges. Rudenko said that on 7 May 2022 his house was searched, after which he was taken to the police station, where he was tortured. The police tried to force him to sign a confession to planning a terrorist attack on 9 May, and when he didn’t, they drew up a report on minor hooliganism.

Rudenko was detained on 18 May 2023 at Zhukovsky airport in Moscow while he was trying to leave for Kyrgyzstan. He says that he was beaten, tasered and threatened again. He spent 15 days under arrest for minor hooliganism, and then was detained again four times in a row, straight out of the detention centre. On 20 July 2023, it became known that a criminal case had been initiated against him. Rudenko’s mother believes that he is being persecuted because of his anti-war statements. Last year he made a post on his Vkontakte page condemning the Russian invasion in Ukraine and left several anti-war comments on Telegram. The next day he was sent into custody, allegedly because of his comments about Chechen separatists. These comments were left by the user «Maymul Maymulovich» from 29 April to 1 May 2023 in the Telegram channel «Crimea — the land of guerilla glory», which is dedicated to military actions and cases of sabotage in Crimea. According to the prosecution, these comments «condoned the actions of members of illegal armed groups, supporters of [Dzhokhar] Dudayev, operating in the territory of the Chechen Republic and fighting in Ukraine against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation».

Vyacheslav Samusev, a driver of «Mosgortrans», 36.

Supposedly, his posts on the social network «Vkontakte» became the pretext for the initiated case. In his posts he sympathised with the Ukrainian «Azov» battalion and called for the murder of the Russian president Vladimir Putin. Samusev was taken into custody on 29 August, 2023.

Ruslan Ushakov, administrator of the «True Crime» Telegram channel, writing under the pseudonym «Denis Yevsyukov», 30.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Vladivostok

Alexander Poletaev, Artem city resident, 21.

A case concerning the public justification of terrorism was opened, as well as on making calls for extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code) in connection with aggressive comments made on the social media platform vk.com, published on February 24th, 2022. Poletaev admitted his guilt but indicated that he left these comments as a result of a difficult emotional state caused by the start of the war. He was put under house arrest. After that, his preventive measure was changed to restrictions on travel. On December 22, 2022, he was sentenced to two years in a general regime penal colony.

Alexander Nemenok, Tik-Tok blogger, known as Petya Benzobakov, 52.

The case was initiated based on four video clips, one of which, dated March 6th, 2022, appeared to show Nemenok condemning the war. In May 2022, a search of Nemenok’s home was conducted, and he was released after interrogation. However, in September, he was arrested and placed in an investigative isolator for two months. He claims he has been hospitalized once and consequently classified as having a group 3 disability. The blogger was later placed under house arrest. FSB officers informed him that they had been wiretapping his phone for several months prior to his arrest. According to Nemenok, on one occasion, he was taken from the isolator to the investigator’s office solely to provide a signature and ended up spending nearly 20 hours without food or water. On June 26, 2023, the blogger was sentenced to a fine of 400,000 rubles.

Irkutsk

Vladimir Timofeev, veteran of the Afghan and Chechen wars, left-wing activist, 51.

According to his friends, he served in the Afghan and Chechen wars and is a left-wing activist. The Investigative Committee denies that Timofeev ever saw combat or had anything to do with military service, and mentions that he has been convicted several times. He has criticized the Russian authorities on social media since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. As a result, his page on VKontakte was blocked by request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The case was opened for a post in his Telegram channel about the airstrike by Ukraine on the oil depot in the Belgorod region. Timofeev was placed under house arrest. Initially, it was also reported that a case had been opened against him for discrediting the Russian army but it was later revealed that this was an article on 'fakes' (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On April 25, 2023, Timofeev was sentenced to three years in prison, although the prosecutor had asked for a two-year suspended sentence. On September 11, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence by four months.

Ilya Podkamenny, activist, 18.

For more details, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Syktyvkar

Nikita Tushkanov, former schoolteacher in Mikun, 28.

He was fired because he held an anti-war picket in Mikun. In March 2022, Tushkanov was charged four times at once for his anti-war posts on social media network vk.com; he was charged with disorderly conduct (Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code) and demonstrating Nazi symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). Two more protocols were drawn up under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). The cause for the initiation of a criminal case was a post with a photo of the Crimean bridge explosion and a caption with a positive reaction to what had happened. In addition, the case file included comments that referred to the annexation of Crimea. Tushkanov was detained after a search and taken to the local FSB office for interrogation. His apartment in Mikun was also searched. The next day, the court delivered him into custody. Later, it became known that he was also charged with discrediting the Russian army (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). The reason cited was a post on vk.com. In January 2023 it became known that Tushkanov was not allowed to receive visits from relatives and was not allowed to marry. In March, staff at the pre-trial detention centre cut the food Tushkanov received from his relatives into small pieces and shredded his jacket. According to members of the support group, this was an attempt to persuade the former teacher to cooperate with the investigation. On May 11, 2023, Tushkanov was sentenced to five and a half years in a general regime penal colony. On September 25, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence by six months.

Boris Kagarlitsky, sociologist, journalist, video blogger, chief editor of the online newspaper «Rabkor» and administrator of a YouTube channel of the same name, 64.

Searches in his case took place on 25 July 2023 in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Penza. Kagarlitsky himself was transferred from Moscow to Syktyvkar, where he was taken into custody the next day under a court warrant. A criminal case was initiated against Kagarlitsky for a post about the Crimean bridge explosion in October 2022, in which he discussed the economic and political consequences of the explosion and its meaning from «the point of view of the war».

Saransk

Kirill Akimov, a resident of Krasnoslobodsk district, Mordovia, and a beekeeper, 52.

Also known as «the Mordovian farmer». According to police investigators, Akimov spoke out against war in Ukraine and «called for overthrowing the Russian government» and also called for violent actions against supporters of Putin’s policy using his own radio channel. Akimov was detained 16 June and placed under arrest. On April 12, 2023, he was sentenced to six years in prison.

Alexei Podolsky, 30.

The reason for initiating the case against him was a comment on VKontakte social network in October 2022 in connection with the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. Podolsky wrote, «That’s a nice gift, well done Ukrainians! Real patriots of their country!» In the resolution to initiate a criminal case, it is noted that Podolsky is an «opponent of the current government and special operations.» In May 2023, a protocol was drawn up against Podolsky under the article on discrediting the Russian army due to comments on VKontakte. On June 27, he was fined 30,000 rubles (US$ 317), which he is contesting. In October 2023 it became known that two cases of discrediting the Armed Forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, see above) had also been brought against Podolsky. By then he had left Russia.

Khabarovsk

Zakhar Zaripov, a resident of Sovetskaya Gavan and activist, 39.

He was a participant in rallies against the construction of a coal terminal and arrest of the region’s governor Sergei Furgal. According to investigators, at the beginning of March 2022, he, using the nickname «scribble_33», published a post on LiveJournal called «A clue for Kadyrov», in which he offered the head of Chechen Republic not to send the soldiers from the Republic to the war in Ukraine but to attain the independence of his own region instead. On 25th of January in Zaripov’s house the search was conducted, he himself was detained; on 27th of January the court remanded him in custody. Zaripov has a pregnant wife and infant daughter outside the remand.

Settlement Vanino (Khabarovsk Krai)

Anatoly Lanchekov, former serviceman, 58.

He was discharged from the army in 2012 after raising concerns about corruption and fraud among officers. He later filed complaints and held protests. He demanded the resignation of Sergey Surovikin, former commander of Eastern Military District. Due to his activism, Lanchenkov was sent to a psychiatric ward. Telegram channel ASTRA reports that three cases for incitement to terrorism were initiated against him for posts on «Odnoklassniki». One of the cases is linked to his post saying: «Do all Putin’s f***rs in, no prison, no nuthouse. In this country of lawlessness… both the military and the civilians, because they are culpable accomplices and criminals!!!» Apparently, this happened before December 2022. He was arrested for a post criticising Putin supporters. In September 2023 it became public that he was charged with spreading «fake facts» about the Russian army for a post in March 2022. Further details are unknown.

Khabarovsk Krai (unknown city)

Andrei K., 61.

According to the investigation, Andrei sent a message with criticism of the Russian army and incitement to hostile activity towards Russian military to a closed WhatsApp chat of the movement «Narodny soviet 27» (People’s Council 27).

Oryol

Alexander Byvshev, a resident of Kromy, former school teacher, poet, 50.

Human rights activist Aleksandr Podrabinek writes that the poet’s prosecution is linked to the publication of his poem «To the Russian officers or a rhetorical question» in March 2022. The poem begins with the phrase «Missiles are hitting Ukraine» and then the poet addresses the Russian military in the hope of finding a «Russian Stauffenberg». Byvshev was taken into custody. On December 1, 2022, he was arrested for seven days because of a Facebook post where he used the word «chmobiki» [offensive word in Russian referring to people mobilised]. The poet was accused of inciting hatred or enmity toward the Russian army (article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Since 2014, at least six criminal cases have been initiated against Byvshev, five of them because of poems supporting Ukraine and condemning the political situation in Russia. Subsequently, some of the cases were closed due to lack of corpus delicti. In October 2023 it was reported that Byvshev had also been charged with «fakes» about the army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, see above).

Kaluga

Unknown, a resident of Kirov, Kaluga Oblast.

The cause for criminal proceedings was a publication on Telegram, where, according to investigators, the man called for terrorist attacks and violence against «persons authorised to conduct the mobilisation campaign». A case on public justification of terrorism and calls for extremist activity (part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) was initiated. The man was detained. In a video recorded by law enforcers, he says that he repents of the crime, which he committed under the «influence of Ukrainian propaganda».

Kaluga

Pavel Zholtikov, 21.

The reason for the prosecution was a photo of a KamAZ truck with the letter Z on board, posted on the Telegram channel, accompanied by the comment «Russian orks are going to be turned mince» and a call to blow up military vehicles with the Z symbol, published in the Telegram chat in April 2022. Zholtikov was sentenced to a fine of 240,000 rubles On December 19.

Anzhero-Sudzhensk (Kemerovo region)

Sergey Arslanov, 39.

According to the investigators, he appealed for terrorism «while feeling hatred for the servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in connection with the conduct of the special military operation, for the current President and the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as for the policy conducted by them» in his VKontakte posts. Vkontakte is a popular Russian social media site. In March 2023, the court fined Arslanov 360,000 rubles. It is alleged that Arslanov had been repeatedly tried on charges of theft and robbery.

Kemerovo

Maxim Smyshlyaev, 37.

According to investigators, he wrote comments in the popular Russian social media VKontakte group «Typical Kemerovo», that contained approval of blowing up the Crimean bridge and a death wish against Vladimir Putin. Smyshlyaev has left Russia.

Novokuznetsk

Lenard Valeev, a resident of Prokopyevsk, theatre director, activist, 60.

According to investigators, he made several posts on social media inciting mobilised citizens to use their weapons «to overthrow the government.» Previously, he participated in protests organised by the Navalny Headquarters. Valeev was charged with administrative offences under the article banning the holding of public events. Valeev was also arrested for three days under the article for organising an uncoordinated event (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation) based on his call for others to participate in an anti-war rally on April 2, 2022. The criminal case is already in court.

In October 2023, a case of incitement to hatred (Part 1, Article 282 of the Criminal Code, see above) was brought against Valeev.

Leninsk-Kuznetsky (Kemerovo Oblast)

Unknown, resident of the town of Polysayevo, 35.

According to investigators, in comments on social networks, he called for insurrection and the assassination of policemen, Russian national guard soldiers, and Russian servicemen taking part in the war in Ukraine. Apart from the public justification of terrorism, a case was also initiated on calls for extremist activities (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). He was sentenced to a two-year term in a general regime penal colony.

Vladimir

Prokhor Neizhmakov, citizen of Ukraine, 22.

He lived in Rubizhne (the Luhansk region of Ukraine). In the spring he fled from the war to the Vladimir region to his relatives, where he later received a certificate of temporary asylum. On March 2, 2023 a criminal case was opened against Neizhmakov for messages in the «Gang of Vladimir» chat in Telegram where he criticized the war and the Russian leadership. According to investigators, he wrote the messages in November 2022. Neizhmakov is reportedly accused of saying the following: «I say that Russia has imperial tendencies… they always want to devour someone», «You are simply destroying my country», «How many husbands and brothers have been killed in connection with these conflicts, if you had not got involved in Ukraine everything would have been fine, we would have been neighbours», «Say thanks to Uncle Volodka, thanks to him I have no home, no education and everything else», «We will not negotiate with Putin… overthrow him and then go ahead». Neizhmakov is in custody. On August 14, 2023, he was sentenced to three years in a general regime penal colony.

Yaroslavl

Svetlana Zotova, mother of Valeriya Zotova (see below), 56.

On March 14, 2023, law enforcement officers came to her home and took her to the police department. There she began to be questioned about her comments on social networks. According to Zotova, one of the officers threatened her with a criminal case, called her obscene words, and waved his fists at her. After that, she was taken to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where she was told that two criminal cases had been opened against her. The first one is under the article on calls for terrorist activities. Zotova was charged for two comments, in one of which she allegedly wrote the words «Russians» and «nuclear [bomb].» However, the police refused to show her these comments. According to police officers, the other criminal case is related to her interrogation in the case of her daughter Valeria. In the evening of that day she was released. On March 16, Zotova was charged with publicly justifying terrorism and calling for extremist activities (part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, Zotova commented on the posts of the Telegram channels named «The Anarchist Fighter» and «Ukraine 24/7» that violated Russian law. Mediazona reported that one of the comments supported blowing up the Crimean bridge, while the other two spoke of the futility of peaceful protests and the need to overthrow the government. According to the ruling on the opening of the criminal case, the posts were made from an account linked to Zotova’s old phone number, which was seized during the search in connection with her daughter’s case. She denies authorship of the comments and says she was not allowed to read their content during questioning. Zotova signed a commitment not to leave.

Unknown, 41 or 43.

According to the investigation, he used VK to publicly justify terrorism. In a video posted on the city Telegram channel, a man with a blurred face claims that he wrote comments «from 2022 until today» «calling for blowing up the Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as opposing the Special Military Operation, and referred to Russian military personnel as „fascists.“ He was sentenced to a fine of 400,000 roubles.

Unknown, inhabitant of the city of Gavrilov-Yam, 32.

According to the FSB, he made posts on social media supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian army, calling for sabotage of the Russian Army and «to physically annihilate Russian statesmen.» After his arrest, videos on the Telegram channel Yaroslavskyi Okolotok (translated Yaroslavl Police Precinct) came to light where the man proclaims he loves Russia and sings a patriotic song.

Cherepovets (Vologda Oblast)

Vitaly Torochkov, 39, and Polina Roots, 31, a married couple.

Both are under arrest. The reason for the prosecution of Torochkov was a video called «The Passport of the Russian Federation Is a Shame and a Stigma!» published in Telegram and on VKontakte. In this video, Torochkov burns a Russian passport and wishes Putin death. The video was published during the first days of the war, and at its beginning Torochkov says that his friend died in Ukraine. The details of Roots’ investigation are unknown. Torochkov and Roots have five children; they were deprived of custodial rights at an official request filed by Roots’ mother, who received custody of the four older children. The youngest daughter, still an infant, was given up for adoption. The couple ran a blog named «How and why children are taken away in Russia.» They publicly renounced their Russian citizenship and declared that they would use ID documents of the USSR instead. Both were also charged with illegal manufacture and possession of explosives (Part 2, Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code and Part 3, Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). On June 8, 2023, Torochkov was sentenced to 13 years in a strict regime penal colony and a fine of 350,000 rubles, while Roots was sentenced to nine years in a general regime penal colony and a fine of 350,000 rubles.

Yekaterinburg

Yulia Lapteva, 44.

According to the investigation, on November 10, 2022, Lapteva posted a comment to a story in a local social media group about the detainment of Mikhail Nikitin for attempted arson of the military recruiting office of the Kirov region. Her comment said: «Well done, man.You did the right thing. Those military recruiting offices send people to the slaughter.» Lapteva was released under an obligation to appear.

Yaroslav Shirshikov, PR manager.

He had participated in protests against the construction of a church in Drama theater park in 2019 and had been sentenced to 7 months in a settlement colony for appeals to mass protests and slander. On March 30, 2023 he was the first person to report the disappearance of Evan Gershkovich, columnist from The Wall Street Journal accused of espionage. Shirshikov wrote that he had met the journalist and interviewed him. The criminal case against Shirshikov on the justification of terrorism was presumably based on posts in his Telegram channel ‘Gusarskaya Bravada’ (Hussar’s Bravado), in which he stated an opinion, in particular, on the murder of the pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. Shirshikov was put under custody. On June 20, 2023, he was released on his own recognizance.

Tomsk

Dmitry K., 39.

He posts on Twitter under the pseudonym of ‘Dexter Morgan’. After the war started, he moved to Ukraine. According to police, he published a post aimed «to incite an unspecified group of people to destroy and wreck state structures» in September 2022. The persecuted supposes the case was initiated because of his tweet with the following text: «Life hack: don’t wanna die? Burn an enlistment office… the administration, marshals, courts of all kinds… you got it. Peaceful protest won’t solve anything.» Earlier, a case for the spreading «knowingly false information about the Armed Forces of Russia» was initiated against him (Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, see above for more details). In addition, it emerged that he was also charged with promoting terrorist activities (Part 1, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code) and inciting activities against state security (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code, see below).

Birobidzhan

Unidentified man

According to the Federal Security Service — FSB, the individual posted materials «in one of the popular Russian messengers'' intended for a wide range of people, in which he „justified the practice of setting military enlistment offices on fire to destabilize the activities of state authorities“. He was released on personal recognizance and is not permitted to leave the country.

Krasnoyarsk

Unknown person, inhabitant of Achinsk, 47.

A comment about the Crimean Вridge explosion was cited as the reason the case was opened.

Igor Orlovsky, 52.

For more details, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Belgorod

German Evdokimov, 44.

The case against him was initiated due to a comment he left on the social network VK under a video of a Ukrainian helicopter attacking an oil depot in Belgorod on April 1, 2022. According to the Telegram channel 'Pepel', Evdokimov was living and working in Tanzania at the time and was arrested upon his return to Russia. Evdokimov has been placed in custody. He has a disabled mother and an underage child waiting for him at home.

Lipetsk

Felix Eliseev, creator of the Telegram channel «Kolkhoz Madness», editor of groups «Barracks communism» and «It fell apart» on the social network VK, 34.

The first case against Eliseev was initiated for public vindication of terrorism in late 2022, after which he was placed in custody. No further details are known. The second case was initiated on April 28, 2022, for a post from April 1st in ‘Kolkhoz Madness’, in which Eliseev expressed approval of the attack on the Belgorod oil depot. Eliseev said that he was being denied medical assistance in the pre-trial detention facility.

Chelyabinsk

Alexey Sidorov, a live-streamer.

The reason for initiating the case was a stream in which he expressed a hope that the Ukrainian army would strike the Kremlin. Sidorov was taken into custody. The 74.ru portal published a video in which the live-streamer claims he was «driven by emotion» when he spoke and offered to show his strength to those who had written him comments along the lines of «Russians, you can’t do anything».

Astrakhan

Ilya Z., a resident of the Petropavlovka village, 28.

According to investigators, in September 2022 he left five comments on VKontakte in news groups, in which he suggested gathering a group of people to kick Putin and the officials out of the office. According to the author of the posts, this would help stop the war in Ukraine and «save Russia''. In one of the comments, he used the word „burn“ in reference to the president and the officials and also wrote his last name and his initials. An expert examination commissioned by the FSB and the Center „E“ (the Center for Combating Extremism) determined that the publications contained „calls to encroach on the life of Vladimir Putin and other state officials“.

Ryazan

Vladislav Mokrousov, 26.

He was taken into custody. A case on spreading knowingly false information about the Armed Forces (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) was also initiated. Details are unknown. As of August 4, 2023, Mokrousov’s whereabouts are unknown.

Tyumen

Pavel Verbitskiy, resident of Urai (Khanty-Mansisk region), former military serviceman, 50.

He was nominated by the Communist Party for the local Duma deputy election. In September 2022, he received a decree for his apprehension. Verbitskiy informed OVD-Info that the investigative actions were related to comments for which he had already been fined under the administrative act for discrediting the Russian Army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). According to the court in the administrative case, Verbitskiy compared the Russian military to orcs and fascists in those comments, as well as likened the Z symbol to a writing on the wall of a street toilet. Later, in an interview with the Republic newspaper, he stated that prior to his apprehension, he received a call informing him that his car had been damaged. When Verbitskiy went outside to inspect, he was detained and forced to lie face down on the asphalt. Following the apprehension, he was taken to the Investigative Committee, where he was assured that he would not face a criminal case. He then traveled to the Altai Territory for a week to visit relatives. However, on his return journey, during a layover in Tyumen, he was once again detained and taken to the FSB department. There, Verbitskiy was informed that a criminal case had been opened against him due to various comments he made opposing the war, including a poem he had published in the Black Uray group on VKontakte. After the questioning, he was released on his own recognizance. Verbitskiy left Russia.

Novomoskovsk (Tula Oblast)

Denis Anokhin, resident of the town of Uzlovaya, 25.

He has been accused by investigators of making posts on social networks where he called for violence against the Russian military and encouraged others to avoid going to the military recruiting office and evade military service. Apart from publicly justifying terrorism, a case has been initiated against him for promoting extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). On September 21, 2023, Anokhin was sentenced to four years in a penal colony.

Glazov (Udmurtia)

Andrey Edigarev, a former deputy of the City Duma, 61. Participated in the «Congress of People’s Deputies of Russia» in Warsaw in 2022 and subsequently returned to Russia.

The details of the criminal case are unknown. Edigarev has been placed in custody. According to unconfirmed reports, he has faced multiple instances where protocols were issued against him under the administrative charge of discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code), and the court returned the third protocol to the police at that. The «Privy Councilor» telegram channel claims that Edigarev has also faced prosecution for «committing fraudulent acts.» In the winter of 2023, Edigaryev was assaulted by unidentified individuals, as reported by «Vot Tak, » but the Investigative Committee declined to initiate a criminal case.

Syktyvkar

Dmitriy Pavlyuchenko, 48.

The reason for the case initiation was a comment on «VKontakte» regarding the explosion on the Crimean bridge. Pavlyuchenko had home searched, and after the interrogation he was released on his own recognizance.

Rubtsovsk (Altai Krai)

Timofey Budkov, anarchist, 21.

According to investigators, in the fall of 2022, he created a telegram channel where he published content of a «terrorist orientation». In particular, the forensic linguistic expertise saw in the posts «a positive assessment of violence, actions associated with danger, causing harm and damage, […] blowing up vehicles and buildings of law enforcement agencies, dismantling army supply lines, and killing people. In addition, one of the materials contained a call for an attack on the military commissariats.» Budkov said that among other things, he supported the burning of military recruitment offices, spoke about the 2022 protests in Kazakhstan, and wrote about the «Kansk teens» case. Budkov was first detained in October 2022 and asked whether he himself had set fire to the military recruitment office, but was released after interrogation. Two months later he learned that a criminal case had been opened against him. Budkov was banned from certain activities during the investigation and trial. On May 23, 2023, the court sentenced him to a fine of 400,000 rubles (US $4900).

Blagoveshchensk

Maria Mekhedova, paediatrician.

She is facing legal consequences for her comment concerning the death of the «war correspondent» Vladlen Tatarsky, who died in a blast in Saint Petersburg. According to media reports, she wrote, «I never thought that I would ever rejoice over this. Lord, forgive me for this.» Mekhedova was placed under house arrest. On May 25, 2023, security officers visited her for a «property inspection», confiscating both her and her husband’s phones to check them for violations of the administrative article on discrediting the military. On December 5, 2022, Mekhedova was fined 30,000 (app. $330) under the article on discrediting the military (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Satka (Chelyabinsk Oblast)

Gulnara Bakhareva, janitor, 56.

She was charged for comments on VKontakte about the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. On July 5, 2023, Bakharieva’s home was searched. She was indicted and is currently on personal recognizance.

Omsk

Mikhail P., 17.

A case was initiated against Mikhail for a comment he left on Vkontakte under a post about a drone attack on the Kremlin: «Glory to Ukraine. Get to work, brothers. Putin has probably already prepared fifteen suitcases for faeces :))»

Samara

Polina Yevtushenko, resident of Tolyatti, 24.

Since the autumn of 2022, Yevtushenko has been blogging in Ukrainian and making anti-war inscriptions on banknotes. A case was initiated against her for publications in support of the Freedom of Russia Legion which fights for Ukraine. Earlier, Yevtushenko was prosecuted for preparation for treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). The investigation believes that she encouraged a local resident to join the legion. Yevtushenko was taken into custody. In September 2023, it became known that Yevtushenko had also been charged with financing terrorism (Part 1.1, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code).

Serov (Sverdlovsk Oblast)

Unknown schoolboy, resident of the town of Sosva, 16.

According to law enforcement, in January 2023, the teenager created a Telegram channel in which he «praised saboteurs and encouraged other schoolchildren to carry out arson attacks on military recruitment offices». According to the Telegram channel «SHOT», he was detained after operatives signed up to the Telegram channel. He was then released on his own recognizance.

Novosibirsk

Takhir Arslanov, 67.

The case against Arslanov was also initiated under articles on calls for extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and on calls for mass riots (Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code). The reason for the case was two posts by Arslanov, which, according to Arslanov himself, were about the arson of the military recruitment office of Kirov and Leninsky districts, which occurred on 29 September 2022. Arslanov’s house was searched twice, during which law enforcers broke down the door of the flat. Arslanov says that he was interrogated until five o’clock in the morning as a witness. He was initially told that he was being investigated for arson. Arslanov admits that the publications that gave rise to the criminal case were «expressing protest quite harshly» and says it is because his daughter lives in Kyiv and had to sleep in a bomb shelter. He was initially released on personal recognizance. On 2 August 2023, Arslanov was sentenced to three years in a general regime penal colony. Local MP Svetlana Kaverzina, who corresponded with Arslanov, says that law enforcement officers killed his cat while searching his flat.

Sverdlovsk Oblast (city is unknown)

Unknown

According to the investigation, the defendant published a video on «one of the foreign social networks» which contained calls for terrorism and condoned the explosions on the Crimean Bridge.

Magadan

Tamara Kryukova, a civil rights activist, 66.

24 August 2023 a search was conducted at her home and she was detained. Apart from a criminal case, nine administrative cases were also initiated against her. There were two cases about discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), six cases about displaying Nazi or extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and one about organisation of an unauthorised event (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The whole day no one knew where Kryukova was and only in the evening of August, 25 she was found in the Magadan city court. There Kryukova managed to say that she was driven to the local Directorate FSB. According to Kryukova’s goddaughter, there was a member of law enforcement in civil clothes next to her in the court. The man behaved aggressively and stated that Kryukova’s phone was confiscated and she «won’t be released soon». The goddaughter paid her attention to the shoes: Kryukova was wearing someone else’s shoes so she assumed that Kryukova was taken from her home barefoot. Kryukova had been arrested for three days and nights for one of the administrative cases. Right after she had been released Krukova was detained again and arrested for a further eight days. At the end of the next period of administrative arrest, Kryukova was placed under house arrest. The criminal case was initiated because of some of Krukova’s posts on the social network «Vkontakte». According to the telegram channel «Ostorozhno, novosti» («Careful! News») the woman was expressing her support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the legion «Freedom for Russia».

Novodvinsk (Arkhangelsk Oblast)

Dmitry Smirnov, 22.

According to the investigation, he posted entries expressing a negative attitude towards the actions of Russian authorities in Ukraine and «publicly declared his recognition of the ideology and practices of terrorism as correct, and requiring support and emulation».

Norilsk

Maxim P., 31. The case was initiated due to comments on an VKontakte video «Protests against the war in Ukraine taking place in Moscow» and «Just listen to what this terrorist *** is saying.» According to a friend, due to his anti-war stance, Maxim initially encountered problems at work and later became a victim of criminal prosecution.

 

Danila Chumak, 19.

For further details, see section on Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code.

Stavropol Krai (city unknown)

Timofey K., 34.

According to the ASTRA Telegram channel, he commented on VKontakte about the April 2023 fire at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Cyprus: It is not known which progressive forces were behind this attack, but we remind Russian emigrants: all these Centres of Science and Culture, offices of Rossotrudnichestvo (Russian Collaboration) and Russian companies are tools of soft power, expansion of the influence of Kremlin, the headquarters of the global war that Putin is carrying out against the free world, and therefore against you and me. Attack wherever you can! Everything that belongs to Putin, is used by Putin, must burn!» Timofey, who usually resides in Stavropol, is currently in the United States.

Voronezh

Nina Belyaeva, former deputy of the Soviet of People’s Deputies of Voronezh region’s Semiluki district, 33.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Kirov

Richard Rose

For further details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Kolomna (Moscow Oblast)

Kirill Butylin, a resident of Lukhovitsy, aircraft assembler at the local Voronin Aviation Plant, 22.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Chita

Alexander Snezhkov, 19, and Lyubov Lizunova, 16, anarchists.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code.

Arkhangelsk

Olesya Krivtsova, a student at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University.

For more details see the section on Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code.

Saint Petersburg

Egor Pavlov, a student at the Polytechnic University, 19, and Veronika Kuzmina, 22.

For more details, see the section on Part 1.1, Article 212 of the Criminal Code.

Beryozovsky (Sverdlovsk Oblast)

Alexei Rozhkov, consultant at an electronics shop, 25. For more details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code.

Anadyr

Dmitry Aritkulov, 45. For more details, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Simferopol

Bogdan Ziza, Evpatoria resident, artist, 29.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

 

 

Committing a terrorist attack (Article 205 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code

Committing an explosion, arson or other frightening actions that may lead to the death of a person, significant damage or other severe consequences, all in order to destabilize the government or international organizations or influence their decision-making, or the threat of committing these actions in order to influence the decision-making of the government or international organizations. Punishable with up to 15 years in prison (and up to three fourths of the sentence if Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal code, on an attempted crime, is applied).

Shuya (Ivanovo region)

Dmitry Lyamin, 31.

According to investigators, at the beginning of April 2022, he threw «a hand-made explosive device» through the window of a military recruitment office. Nobody was hurt and the fire was quickly extinguished. At first, Lyamin was charged with an attempt to damage or destroy property (Part 2, Article 167 with the use of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code), but the charge was later reclassified as an act of terrorism. Lyamin was placed in custody. At the beginning of June 2022, he was moved to Moscow — most likely, in order to conduct a psychiatric assessment at the Serbsky Center. For some unknown reason, Lyamin rejected the services of the lawyer he had had an agreement with. Human right defender Ivan Astashin believes this decision could have been made under pressure. On April 12, 2023, Lyamin was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony and ordered to undergo compulsory psychiatric treatment at his place of imprisonment.

Krasnodar

Igor Paskar, Volgograd resident, 46.

He was detained in June 2022. It was claimed that he threw a Molotov cocktail in the hall of a local FSB office. The police found tubes of blue and yellow paint in his possession. Allegedly, before throwing the cocktail, Paskar painted his face with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. He was placed in custody. In August, it became known that Paskar is also accused of vandalism (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, he set a banner with the letter Z and the words «We don’t abandon our own» on fire. At the first hearing, Paskar spoke of torture following his detention. In February 2023, it emerged that Paskar had not received any letters in the pre-trial detention centre since the New Year. In March, it emerged that they had started delivering the letters again. On May 31, 2023, Paskar was sentenced to eight and a half years in a strict regime penal colony. In the detention centre, Paskar was beaten, presumably by the war veterans to whom he had been placed.

A person who wished to remain anonymous, car mechanic, 34.

According to investigators, he set fire to the enlistment office of the Western and Prikubansky districts located on Yan Poluyan Street using two Molotov cocktails. Initially, the Krasnodar resident was charged with intentional destruction of property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code), but then the charge was reclassified as a terrorist attack. One of the bottles he threw caught fire in front of the building, and the second did not break at all. The man explained himself by saying that after the start of mobilization, he was afraid for his relatives and close friends. He was taken into custody. The lawyer said that the police tortured his defendant after his detention: they used electric shocks to make him confess to receiving funds from Ukraine. He was forced to incriminate himself. On August 23, 2023, the Krasnodar resident was sentenced to six years in a strict regime penal colony.

Komsomolsk-on-Amur

Vladimir Zolotarev, taxi driver.

Participated in protests. In March 2022, his car was stopped by traffic police. According to investigators, following this stop he hit Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Feldman in the face with his head. Zolotarev states that, during the arrest, the police «twisted» him and, because of the pain, he «leaned back and accidentally hit» the traffic policeman’s face with the back of his head. A case was launched on committing violence toward a representative of the authorities (Part 1, Article 318 of the Criminal Code). He was placed under house arrest. On June 4th, Zolotarev set the entrance to a National Guard office on fire. Later at the interrogation, he explained that this is how he wanted to express his protest against the war. The next day, he was detained and placed in custody, charged with an attempted terrorist attack. Another case was then opened concerning preparations for a terrorist attack (Part 1, Article 205 with the use of Part 1, Article 30 of the Criminal Code.) According to investigators, when the traffic police stopped Zolotarev in March, he told them that he intended to break into police and FSB office windows with a pry bar and set them on fire using fuel. A pry bar and fuel were found in his trunk. Zolotarev completely denies this charge. In March 2023, the prosecutor’s office did not endorse the indictment in his case. In May, the case went to trial; the incident, previously classified as an attempt to commit a terrorist attack, is now classified as an actual act of terrorism. On July 28, 2023, Zolotarev was sentenced to 18 years in a strict regime penal colony.

Novosibirsk

Unknown person

According to investigators, «following the instructions of foreign curators, he carried out a search for actors to commit arson against military commissariat buildings in Novosibirsk region.» He is charged with organising a terrorist attack (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code and Part 3, Article 33 of the Criminal Code.) He is currently in custody.

Rostov-on-Don

Roman Shvedov, 37.

According to investigators, on September 26th, 2022, at around 3 am he approached the Zimnikovsky district town hall in Rostov region and threw a fuel barrel through a window of the office for the head of the construction and urban planning department. The FSB regional office believes that Shvedov committed this act «in order to destabilize the work of the state authorities, affecting their decision-making, expressing protest against the special military operation to defend the DNR and LNR as well as against the partial military draft in Russia.» At first, there was information that a case was opened against Shvedov on the intentional damage of property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code) but this was reclassified as committing a terrorist act. After Shvedov’s detention, a video was released where a man with a blurred face admited his guilt and confessed his crime. Shvedov is in custody. He was also fined two thousand rubles as per the administrative article on disobedience to the lawful orders of the police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences), as he allegedly attempted to destroy evidence upon being subject to a search.

St. Petersburg

Maxim Asriyan, 26.

Graduated from St Petersburg State University Medical School, then worked in the intensive care units of the First Medical University, including the «red zone» of the North-West State Medical University (Mechnikov University) during the pandemic. On October 7th, 2022, he was detained at Pulkovo airport where he intended to take a plane to Sochi. According to investigators, he bought bottles with explosive liquid in order to set the Frunzensky district military draft office on fire. He approached the building, looked at its windows, then left. He admitted his guilt before meeting an attorney. He is charged with an attempted terrorist act (Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code.) On October 10th, the court placed Asriyan into custody. The prosecutor states that, on his smartphone, there was «a manual on exploding and destroying railroad infrastructure» and, on his laptop, a completed application to join the «Freedom to Russia» legion as well as links to Telegram accounts «connected to illegal trade of military weapons.» His attorney, Vera Ivanova, mentioned that Asriyan indeed filled in the application in order to provide medical treatment to civilians. However, once he «learned about the financial sources of the Legion, ” he decided not to submit it. She adds that Asriyan suffers from severe chronic diseases which do not allow him to be kept in custody.

Egor Balazeikin, secondary school student, 17.

He was detained on February 28, 2023, due to an attempt to set fire to the military recruitment office responsible for conscription in Kirovsk and the Kirovsky district of the Leningrad region (the town and its outskirts near Saint Petersburg). According to the police, the young man threw a Molotov cocktail at the door of the military recruiting office, but the bottle did not explode. Originally, a criminal case was initiated under the article on intentional damage to or destruction of property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code), but later the article was changed to an attempted terrorist attack (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the use of Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). Soon, another case initiated against Balazeikin became public. The new case accused him of deliberate damage to property in connection with an attempt to set fire to the military enlistment office responsible for the Krasnogvardeysky district of St. Petersburg. According to investigators, he «came to the place with everything necessary but could not implement the plan and left the place.» There were also initial reports of a property damage article, but this information does not appear to have been confirmed. Balazeikin’s first written statement was taken in the absence of his parents. The teenager was taken into custody. The telegram channel dedicated to Balazeikin reports that he initially supported the war, but changed his position later. One of the reasons was connected with his uncle’s death in the war. The teenager’s mother, who managed to talk to Egor after his arrest, repeated his words on the air of «TV Rain». She said he wanted to do something «while seeing how many people are dying.» Federal Security Service officers who came to Balazeikin to the pretrial detention center said they could beat him, rape him, or send him to a psychiatric hospital. Balazeikin’s father was fired. On August 7, 2023, it was reported that the young man’s health was deteriorating in detention: liver fibrosis was progressing against the background of the disease — autoimmune hepatitis. The court held the first hearings at a fast pace, they lasted for many hours, in this context the lawyer declared a violation of Balazeikin’s rights, as the defence had no opportunity to communicate with him confidentially. On October 25, the court adjourned the hearings indefinitely.

Ulan-Ude

Mikhail Babintsev, amateur photographer, 39.

According to investigators, on the night of October 16-17th, 2022, he hurled two Molotov cocktails onto the roof of a military recruitment office in Mukhorshibir village. As a result, two square meters of the building facade were burned, but the fire did not penetrate inside the building. Mikhail was taken into custody. On October 4, 2023, Babintsev was sentenced to 13 years in a strict regime penal colony.

Krasnoyarsk

Andrey Petrauskas, 24.

He was detained on suspicion of setting fire to a military recruitment office in the Sovetskiy (Soviet) and Central neighborhoods. According to the sibnovosti.ru news portal, the detainee is a supporter of an extremist organization. SOTA states that the organization in question is «Artpodgotovka.» According to the «Baza» Telegram channel, during questioning Petrauskas claimed that he wanted to do a good deed for society. The young man was taken into custody and charged with attempting to commit a terrorist act (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code, with the use of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). On August 16, 2023, Petrauskas was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Tver

Ivan Kudryashov, mechanic, 26.

He conducted anti-war demonstrations in the city. He was detained on September 30 and taken into custody because he allegedly planned to set fire to a military recruitment office as a protest against mobilization. The activist has been charged with preparing to commit a terrorist act (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code, with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). Kudryashov told his lawyer that Tver FSB officers had planted incendiary mixtures on him during his detention and that he had been repeatedly tortured in order to obtain the password to his smartphone and to force him to sign a confession. The Investigative Committee refused to open a criminal case on Kudryashov’s allegations of torture. On June 14, 2023, he went on hunger strike because he was not given vegetarian food, his complaints were not forwarded to the prosecutor’s office and the head of the detention centre refused to meet with him. On June 20, Kudryashov was sentenced to six years in a strict regime penal colony. On July 18, Kudryashov ended his hunger strike. On July 27, it emerged that he had been taken to hospital. His lawyer, Maksim Kharchenko, later said that Kudryashov was in the psychiatric ward and had been restrained. According to him, the guards said that Kudryashov was restrained because he could harm others and himself. The convict does not respond to speech. Solidarity Zone suggests that Kudryashov may have been subjected to punitive psychiatric methods as revenge by the head of SIZO-1 Tver, his namesake Alexei Kudryashov. The lawyer claims that on July 18, the first day of his client’s cessation of hunger strike, he did not notice any changes in his mental state. Solidarity Zone also stated that the FSIN officers could have forged Ivan Kudryashov’s letters: the human rights activists received a reply from the convict, but the handwriting in it does not match the handwriting in the previous letters. «Kudryashov writes that he had a nervous breakdown and broke a tap and a sink in two cells, after which he was sent to hospital, where he is being treated and recovering. „We believe that in this way the hospital management is trying to deceive the public and suppress the scandal, “ writes Solidarity Zone. On August 8, the lawyer said that Kudryashov had regained consciousness. On September 29, 2023, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to four years and ten months.

Mikhail Lazakovich, resident of Likhoslavl, 19.

According to the investigators, he set fire to the local military recruiting office. The arson incident was reported on May 7, 2023, and Lazakovich was placed under arrest. Initially, it was stated that he confessed to carrying out the attack, and he had committed the arson with the expectation of receiving a payment of 40 thousand rubles. However, later on, the «Area of Solidarity» project reported that Lazakovich was initially charged with property damage (Part 2 of Article 267 of the Criminal Code) and confessed to this charge, but he didn’t say anything about money. When the charges were reclassified, the young man refused to provide further testimony. The investigation describes Lazakovich as «an opponent of the SVO» and «a follower of liberal-radical ideas.»

Kaliningrad

Vyacheslav Popov, 44.

He was charged with preparing to commit a terrorist attack (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code, using Part 1, Article 30), illegal manufacture of explosives (Part 1, Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code) and storage of explosives (Part 1, Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, on May 9, 2022, following the orders of one of the leaders of «Right Sector» he planned to commit a terrorist attack near a military base and then to go to Ukraine to fight on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On May 6 a search was conducted at Popov’s house and after that a video was made public in which Popov said that he contacted Leonid Butusin, commander of the Kaluga division of «Right Sector», around 2008. However, as «New Kaliningrad» points out, «Right Sector» was not formed until 2013 and there were no reports of any divisions of this banned organization in the Kaluga region. Leonid Butusin is the son of «Right Sector» activist Oleg Butusin who died in Ukraine in April 2022. Popov was placed in pre-trial detention. Previously, he was an activist in the «Baltic Vanguard of the Russian Resistance, ” whose other members were sentenced to prison time for being part of an extremist group. Popov’s acquaintance Anastasia Nekhaeva, whose apartment was also searched as part of the criminal case, told Mediazona that Popov was opposed to the war but never mentioned ties with any local nationalist organizations. Popov did not confess at first but later changed his statement. On March 29, 2023, he was sentenced to nine years in a strict regime penal colony. On July 24, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence by three months.

Yaroslavl

Valeriya Zotova, 20.

On the evening of February 16, 2023, she left her home telling her mother that she was going for a walk with friends. After that, her mother did not see her again. At about 01:00 law enforcers came to the apartment with a search, without identifying themselves or informing her of the grounds for the investigative actions. Later it became known that Valeriya was under arrest. According to the investigation, she had attempted to set fire to a collection point for humanitarian aid for Donbass. A Telegram channel, affiliated with local law enforcement officers, published a video in which Zotova, stuttering, says that she provided coordinates and photos of buildings «where [are] [the collection points of aid for mobilised soldiers] located to the AFU» for 7,000 roubles. During the «confession», the girl repeatedly clarifies with the person on the other side of the camera what exactly she should say. Valeriya’s mother told Novaya.Europe that her daughter had indeed been corresponding with a certain Andrei, who claimed to be serving in the AFU and asked her to set fire to a «railway box» or leave a certain bag in a designated place for a reward. Valeriya refused. According to Mediazona, it was Andrei who suggested that Zotova set fire to the humanitarian aid collection point. The publication in the Telegram channel claims that Zotova «was raised in a troubled family» and «was a drug addict». Valeriya’s mother told OVD-Info that neither the family nor the girl had ever been on the relevant lists, and her daughter was in a rehabilitation centre because she had left home without permission several times. Zotova’s mother was fined in October 2022 under an article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for graffiti that read «No War» at a local kiosk. During the search, law enforcers threatened to make her a suspect in her daughter’s case, claiming that she participated in anti-war protests. In a post on the «Yaroslavl LIVE» public page, someone, whom the authors of the post call Zotova’s friend, claims that the young man of the arrested girl is fighting in Ukraine on the side of the Russian army. Valeriya’s mother said that her daughter and the man mentioned had split up. Both Svetlana Zotova and Valeria’s lawyer, Ivan Tamarov, believe that Andrei could be an FSB officer. The case also involves a certain Karina, whom Zotova had befriended shortly before the arson attempt and who was with her when she was detained — she turned out to be an agent of the special services. According to their correspondence, Zotova refused to set fire to the building at the last moment and only wanted to take a photograph of the bottle of petrol against the backdrop of the building in order to receive the money she had been promised. According to the defence lawyer, his client came to the attention of the law enforcement authorities because of her anti-war publications, and they decided to start working on her. On June 28, 2023, Valeriya was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony. Zotova complained about the pressure in the pre-trial detention centre. Zotova’s mother said that her daughter complained about Federal Penitentiary Service officer Natalia, who accused the woman of driving her cellmate to suicide, told her «people like you are not loved here» and offered cigarettes to other prisoners in exchange for compromising information about Zotova. During the visit, her daughter complained to Svetlana Zotova that the FSIN officer had tried to hit her. Svetlana then wrote a letter to Valeria about her plans to go to the head of the pre-trial detention centre with her complaints, but received a reply saying: «At the moment it is impossible to deliver the letter, we are not informed about the reasons for the delay (investigative actions, punishment cell, temporary detention centre)». They tried to force Zotova’s cellmates to testify against her in the suicide case. They refused and were also sent to punishment cells.

Svetlana Zotova, Valeria’s mother, has been charged with public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and incitement to extremist activity (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code), see above.

Uglich (Yaroslavl Oblast)

Denis Popov, 21.

According to the investigators, he tried to burn a local recruitment centre. During his arrest, police officers found on his person a few Molotov cocktails and several leaflets with swastikas, the depiction of which are prohibited in Russia. Afterwards they posted a video where Popov said that he was following orders by some «Ukrainian soldiers» whom he met online and that they had also ordered him to sabotage the railways. The police alleged that on his socials he had been calling to commit crimes against soldiers fighting in the war in Ukraine as well as talking about his plans to carry out terrorist acts and to sabotage railways. He was accused of attempted terrorist acts (Article 205(1) of the Criminal Code with Article 30(3) of the Criminal Code) and calls for extremism (Article 280(2) of the Criminal Code). On March 13, 2023, Popov was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment in a strict regime corrective colony, three of which he is to serve in a prison.

Vladivostok

Andrey Alekseev, conscript who served in the Pacific Fleet, 21.

According to investigators, in a messenger app he chatted with a «customer» who promised him 100,000 rubles (app. $1,300) if he «completely destroyed» the military recruiting office of the Leninsky and Frunzensky districts and provided a video recording of the arson. The investigation called the purpose of the arson a «destabilisation of the activities» of the military recruiting office and an «attempt to motivate» the authorities to make a decision on ending the war in Ukraine. An attempt to set fire to the military recruiting office, located in a wooden building that is on the architectural heritage list, was made on the night of June 8, 2022. In July, the «Amur Mash» Telegram channel published a video of Alekseev’s apologies and screenshots of the alleged correspondence with the «customer» (the amount mentioned there was 120,000 rubles (app. $1,565)). Alekseev pleaded guilty and committed an undertaking not to leave until the announcement of the verdict. He was sentenced to seven years in a strict-regime penal colony. The press service of Khabarovsk regional courts (the seat of the 1st Eastern District Military Court that issued the verdict) claims that Alekseev «opposed the special military operation and obstructed partial mobilisation.»

Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk region)

Minor, a resident of Asha, city in Chelyabinsk region, 17.

According to investigators, he attempted to set the local military recruiting office on fire on the night of June 4, 2023. Telegram channel Baza claims that during interrogation the young man said that he threw the bottle as a protest against the war in Ukraine. A case has been initiated regarding an attempted act of terrorism (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code, applying Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and sabotage (Part 1 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code).

Beryozovsky (Sverdlovsk region)

Alexey Rozhkov, electronics store consultant, 25.

According to investigators, he set fire to the military registration and enlistment office on the night of March 11, 2022. Initially, the case was opened for attempted murder, committed with particular cruelty in a generally dangerous way and motivated by hooliganism (part 3 of article 30, Paragraphs «d», «e», «i» Part 2 of Criminal Code Article 105), since there was a female guard in the building and, according to the investigation, Rozhkov was aware of this. The guard was not injured, the fire was extinguished, and canisters of gasoline were found at the Rozhkov’s house. However, the police officer who arrested him said there was no one in the building. He was taken into custody. While in pre-trial detention, he was subjected to compulsory psychiatric treatment and was sent to a psychiatric hospital for 21 days for examination. However, subsequently, according to information on the court’s website, the charge was reclassified as a deliberate attempt to destroy property (Part 2 of Criminal Code Article 167, with the application of Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code), and the pre-trial restrictions were changed to a promise not to leave the city. In November 2022, Rozhkov did not appear at the initial hearing in his case. He had not been seen in the city after November 18. Rozhkov said he has left the country. On May 30, 2023, he was transported from Kyrgyzstan to Russia and taken into custody. Rozhkov said that he was threatened with torture in the building of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, after which he was taken to the airport, and in Russia he was met by FSB officers who put a bag over his head and beat him with an electric shock. The trial resumed, but on July 5 the case was sent back for further investigation: there were reports that Rozhkov might face more serious charges. On August 31, Rozhkov was charged with the public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) for allegedly reposting a video of an interview he gave to the Khodorkovsky LIVE channel on VKontakte. On October 10, the arson was reclassified as a terrorist attack.

Irkutsk

Ilya Podkamenny, activist, 18. For more details, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Simferopol

Bogdan Ziza, Evpatoria resident, artist, 29.

According to investigators, on May 16th, 2022, he spilled blue and red paint on the building of a local administration, following which he threw a Molotov cocktail into it. It did not result in a fire. Ziza was detained on the same day. Security forces published a video in which Ziza confessed his guilt. His friend thinks the artist may have confessed under pressure. Ziza himself later revealed that the officers beat him in order to elicit a «more sincere repentance». Ziza was charged with attempting a terrorist act (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code, applying Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). He was taken into custody. According to unconfirmed information, a case of attempted damage or destruction of property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code, with the application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code) has also been opened, but the final version of the indictment does not include this article. In addition, the cases of vandalism (Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code) and public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) were also opened because of the video manifesto that Ziza had planned to publish. There are two episodes in the final version of the case under the article on committing an act of terrorism: the throwing is qualified as an act of terrorism proper, the phrase in the video that more will come is qualified as a threat of an act of terrorism. After the prosecution demanded 18 years in a strict regime penal colony, Ziza went on hunger strike. On June 6, 2023, he was sentenced to 15 years in a strict regime penal colony. On June 27, Ziza ended his hunger strike. In August, Ziza’s sister said that relatives did not know what was happening to him after his hunger strike.

 

A case under the article on preparation for a terrorist act (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code, with the application of Part 1, Article 30 of the Criminal Code) was also brought against a resident of Pyatigorsk. According to investigators, he planned to set an administrative building on fire «following the instructions of representatives of a Ukrainian nationalist organization.» To implement the plan, he allegedly created an incendiary device and concealed it in a forest. He was detained.The man was taken into custody. He was later charged with high treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code): according to the investigation, he carried out orders for the Russian Freedom Legion and recruited new members into its ranks.

 

Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code: Committing a terrorist act by a group of persons or that caused significant damage

Committing a terrorist act, by a group of persons, or that caused by negligence either death, significant damage or other severe consequences. Punishable with up to 20 years in prison (up to half of the sentence if Part 1, Article 30 of the Criminal Code on the preparation of a crime is applied).

Moscow

Anton Zhuchkov, security guard, 39, and Vladimir Sergeev, 37, residents of Omsk.

Detained at an antiwar protest on March 6th, 2022. Their relatives lost contact with them and only after March 12th was it found out that Zhuchkov and Sergeev were at a hospital (the Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine). They were taken there because they had taken methadone during their detention. Later, they were released and taken to a pre-detention center. At first, they were charged with preparing a hooligan act committed, by a group of persons, with the use of a weapon (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code, applying Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). On March 6th, an anonymous group called «Polite People/War» on VK social media platform posted information that two people detained at Pushkinskaya square were in possession of explosives. Sergeev confessed his guilt and admitted that he was planning to set a police car on fire and then commit suicide. Zhuchkov claims that he only intended a suicide. On May 5th, it was learned that the charge was reclassified to the preparation of a terrorist attack by a group of persons (Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code, applying Part 1, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). Sergeev has since reported that he was not provided with medical care in the pre-trial detention center. In December it emerged that Zhuchkov had also been charged with illegal sale of psychotropic substances in significant quantities (Article 228.1(3) (b) of the Criminal Code). On April 20, 2023, Zhuchkov was sentenced to ten years and Sergeev to eight years in a strict regime penal colony. On September 27, the Court of Appeal reduced both sentences by two months.

Kolomna (Moscow Oblast)

Kirill Butylin, resident of Lukhovitsy, aircraft assembler at the local Voronin Aviation Plant, 22.

According to investigators, on February 28, 2022, he broke two windows at a military draft office and threw two Molotov cocktails inside. He also painted the gate with Ukrainian flag colors and left a «provocative message about the Russian special operation in Ukraine.» Following the arson, he attempted to flee but was detained on March 8th at the Belorussian-Lithuanian border and handed over to the Russian authorities. On that day, he posted a video of his attack on a military draft office and a manifesto. On March 13th, Butylin managed to escape from the police office. He was put on a wanted list and later in the evening was detained again. Initially, he was charged with vandalism (Article 214 of the Criminal Code,) then they added the charge of damaging property in the form of arson (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code) but later the second charge was reclassified to an act of terrorism. In addition, Butylin was charged with public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) in connection with the arsonist manifesto he published, in which he spoke out against the war. Butylin is in custody. He said that in the pre-trial detention centre in Kolomna they tried to make him say the phrase 'Putin is cool' on camera. After the young man refused, the law enforcement officers told him that he would «rot in solitary confinement with paedophiles for 15 years, [his] teeth will fall out». On March 15, 2023, the court sentenced him to 13 years in a strict regime penal colony.

Ufa

Farrukhdzhon Zokirov, 18, Mustafa Shahbazov, 18, Emin Sadygov and Sadygov’s brother, 17.

According to investigators, they made at least five attempts to damage electrical equipment connected to railway tracks. In so doing, they «opposed the special military operation in Ukraine and expected to destabilize the work of the authorities.» The incriminating episodes include the arson of: a sectioning post on the Chernikovka-Shaksha railroad stretch, of a control post for disconnecting the contact network, and of four relay panels on the Dyoma-Checkpoint railway. They have been taken into custody.

Yekaterinburg

Mikhail Nikitin, 47.

He has repeatedly criticised the authorities and taken part in protests in the past. In 2020, an administrative case was brought against Nikitin for insulting the authorities over a Facebook post, but the case was dropped due to an overdue summons. He also took part in rallies against the construction of a church on the city pond embankment and in the square near the Drama Theatre, and against the demolition of the television tower. According to the FSB, he was preparing «a terrorist attack on an administrative building», a local military recruitment office, to «spread panic among the local populace». The department believes the man had accomplices who currently form part of the investigation. He was placed in custody under an article on preparing a terrorist attack (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code, with the use of Part 1, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). The case is already in the court.

Chelyabinsk

Alexey Nuriev, 37 and Roman Nasryev, 28, residents of the city of Bakal, musicians.

Nasryev also worked as a driver for Rosgvardiya, and Nuriev was a commander in the Ministry of Emergency Situations' Fire and Rescue Service. According to investigators, on the night of October 11, 2022, they broke a window on the ground floor of the local administration building and threw two Molotov cocktails through it. The guard was able to extinguish the fire before the firemen arrived. The men were arrested within a couple of hours. On October 13, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk sent them to a pre-trial detention center for two months. Initially, Nuriev and Nasryev were charged with intentional destruction and damage to property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code), but later the case was requalified as a terrorist act carried out by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (Paragraph «A», Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code). The press service of the FSB in the region noted that the detainees «are members of several dozen left- and right-wing radical Internet communities, including pro-Ukrainian nationalist ones.» Another case was also opened against Nureyev and Nasryev for undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code). A source in law enforcement told URA.RU that the musicians «took courses on carrying out terrorist activities online and by phone. The arson attack on the mayor’s office was a premeditated act.» The human rights initiative Zona Solidarnosti (Solidarity Zone) notes that Nuriev had published anti-war poetry before his arrest, while Nasryev confirmed while in pre-trial detention that he committed the arson as a protest against the war and mobilisation. On April 10, 2023, both were sentenced to 19 years in a strict regime penal colony.

Khanty-Mansiysk

Vladislav Borisenko, 20, and Vasiliy Gavrilishen, 21, residents of Nizhnevartovsk. According to the investigation, on the night of May 4, 2022, Gavrilishen threw Molotov cocktails at the local military recruiting office while Borisenko was filming. Both were detained and taken into custody. They were initially charged with damaging or destroying property and hooliganism (Article 213 of the Criminal Code), but the charges were later reclassified as committing a terrorist act by a group of people (Paragraph «a», Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, Gavrilishen agreed to set fire to the military recruiting office for a monetary reward in order to express his disagreement with the war in Ukraine: he corresponded with a certain Rostislav Mukhin, associated with the AFU, who promised the man between one and three million rubles for the arson. After the arson, according to law enforcement officials, Gavrilishen’s cryptocurrency wallet received 700,000 rubles, which he transferred to his bank account. The young men’s cases were separated in the proceedings and are being tried separately. On January 31, 2023, Borisenko was sentenced to 12 years in a strict regime penal colony. After that, Gavrilishen retracted his earlier confession: he pleaded guilty, but disagreed with the classification of the act under the terrorist article. The case was due to be heard in a special procedure, but the court switched to the general procedure because of the withdrawal of the confession. On July 3, 2023, Gavrilishen was sentenced to 13 years in a strict regime penal colony.

Krasnodar

Boris Goncharenko, 34, a teacher, and Bogdan Abdurakhmanov, 27.

According to investigators, on October 6, 2022, they threw four Molotov cocktails at the door of a military recruiting centre in the town of Goryachy Klyuch and fled. The fire was extinguished by an employee of the recruiting centre before the fire brigade arrived. They were detained on October 7. Initially, both were charged with attempted arson (Part 2, Article 167, with application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code), but later the charge was changed to committing a terrorist act by a group of persons causing great damage (Paragraphs «a» and «c», Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code). On October 24, the court decided to remand them in custody. Initially there was only news about Goncharenko, then information emerged about his accomplice, who was mentioned in the court decision as a person with a surname beginning with A. The investigation believes that they planned the arson «because of their disagreement with the special military operation in Ukraine and the partial mobilisation of Russian citizens, in order to influence the decision of the Russian authorities to stop it». The case is already in court.

Irkutsk

Dmitry Mikheev, former sound engineer at TRK Bratsk, 21. According to the investigation, he tried to set fire to the military recruiting centre in Bratsk. After news of Mikheev’s detention broke, the television company announced that he no longer worked for them and his name was removed from the TRK website. Mikheev was initially charged with deliberate destruction of property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code), but the charges were later changed to committing a terrorist act causing substantial damage to property (Paragraph «c», Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code). Mikheyev is in custody. As of June 2023, his whereabouts are unknown.

Tolyatti

Pavel Korshunov, employee of a company specialising in the rental of sports and tourist equipment, 35.

According to the investigation, on September 22, 2022, he threw a Molotov cocktail into the administration building, setting fire to the door. On September 28, Korshunov was taken into custody; he pleaded guilty and cooperated with the investigation. The Bloknot-Samara news outlet reported that Korshunov cited a protest against the mobilisation as the motive for his actions. The man had previously taken part in protest rallies. It was initially reported that Korshunov had been charged under Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code, but it later emerged that he had been charged with committing an act of terrorism causing significant damage to property or other serious consequences (Paragraph «c», Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code) and vandalism for political reasons (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code). The case is already in the court.

Uryupinsk (Volgograd Oblast)

Mikhail Filatov, 35. He worked as a maintenance technician at a liquor store.

The media have portrayed him as a follower of the late neo-Nazi Maxim Martsinkevich, also known as «Tesak.» Filatov started facing legal pressure following the arson of a military recruitment office on September 26, 2022. That morning, on his VKontakte page Filatov posted a photo of a Molotov cocktail with a caption saying, «Everyone protests in the way they think is right.» The same day, the Baza Telegram channel published a video where a man driving his car close to the building’s entrance and then proceeds to pelt it with Molotov cocktails. On October 3, 2023, Filatov was sentenced to 12 years in a strict regime penal colony.

 

The same article appears in a case against six anti-fascists in Tyumen. According to the investigation, Nikita Oleynik, a resident of Surgut, was the leader and the other five were members of a terrorist group that planned to overthrow the authorities and carry out terrorist attacks on the railway, which was to transport trains with Russian military equipment to the front.

Mikhail Balabanov, 20, is also being prosecuted under this article. According to the investigation, he planned to set fire to a military recruiting office in Nevinnomyssk and Kochubey districts. The Telegram channel SHOT claims that Balabanov was recruited by a man who introduced himself in their correspondence as «Ben» and allegedly worked for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The media outlet Vot Tak suggests that the man who introduced himself as «Ben» (the spelling in Russian varies from source to source) was a provocateur: he began writing messages to Balabanov under the nickname «I Want To Live» on the same day that Balabanov tried to contact the Ukrainian project of the same name, which offers mobilised Russians to surrender. «Ben» promised to help Balabanov leave, but asked him to set fire to the centre. Vitaliy Matvienko, a representative of the Ukrainian project «I Want to Live», told Vot Tak journalists that no one from the project had ever contacted Balabanov and that they had never encountered such situations.

 

Article 205 (part unknown)

Tyumen

An unknown resident of Tobolsk, the pupil of 9th class, 15.

According to investigators, in the late evening of 23 February 2023, he took a Molotov cocktail and a lighter and went towards a military recruiting office. He was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service while on his way there. The teenager was taken into custody. He was charged with planning to carry out a terrorist attack (Аrticle 205 with the application of Part 1, Article 30 of the Criminal Code). 72.ru publication reported that the teenager’s father was participating in the war and on the eve of the accident he came back to Tobolsk on vacation. The teenager was living with his mother and stepfather. According to the publication’s unnamed source, he was offered a reward for arson, and at the same time, he spoke out against the war on social networks. On April 21, 2023, the teenager was placed under house arrest, but a week later the court ordered that he be sent to a psychoneurological boarding school. On October 13, the court ordered the boy to undergo compulsory psychiatric treatment.

Irkutsk

Ilya Podkamenny, activist, 18.

For more details see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

 

Participation in terrorist activity (Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1.1, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code: Involvement in terrorist activity

Incitement, recruitment or any other type of involvement of a person in committing at least one of the crimes established by Articles 205 (committing an act of terrorism), 205.3 (completing training for the purposes of participating in terrorist activity), 205.4 (terrorist community activity), 205.5 (terrorist organization activity), Part 3 and Part 4 of Article 206 (hostage-taking leading to death), Part 4 of Article 211 (hijacking of an aircraft or water vessel as a part of commitment of a terrorist act) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as well as financing of terrorism. Possible punishment is up to lifetime imprisonment.

Novosibirsk

Ilya Baburin, 23.

For more details, see the section on Part 4 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code.

Samara

Polina Yevtushenko, resident of Tolyatti, 24.

For more details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

Part 4, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code: Organization of terror crimes

The organization of at least one of the crimes described in Articles 205 (terrorism), 205.3 (training to carry out terrorist acts), Parts 3 and 4, Article 206 (hostage-taking leading to a death), Part 4, Article 211 (hijacking of an air- or watercraft to carry out a terrorist act) of the Criminal Code, or leadership with regard to these crimes, or organizing terror sponsorship.

The potential sentence: up to life imprisonment.

Novosibirsk

Ilya Baburin, 23. According to the investigation, he was «in charge of finding executors for setting fire to military commissariat buildings in Novosibirsk Oblast on the orders of foreign clients»: he gave the alleged executors, who appear in the case as Orlov and Shorin, a bottle containing a «Molotov cocktail». Orlov and Shorin allegedly voluntarily handed the bottle to FSB officers and testified against Baburin. During the search, law enforcement officers confiscated a book by American war correspondent William Shearer, «The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich» — the BBC Russian Service quotes lawyer Vasily Dubkov as saying that the investigation proved Baburin’s adherence to Nazism. Initially it was reported that he had been charged with attempted planning of a terrorist act (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code, with the application of Part 3, Article 30 and Part 3, Article 33), but it was later revealed that he had been charged under Part 4, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code. Baburin was remanded in custody. On September 29, 2022, the day before the reports about Baburin, information came to light about the detention of a local resident in connection with the attempted arson of a military recruiting centre in Kirovsky and Leninsky districts. It is not known whether Baburin was involved in this case. According to unconfirmed reports, Baburin was also charged with involvement in terrorist activities (Part 1.1, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code). Baburin was subjected to humiliation in pre-trial detention: he was placed in a punishment cell and a «psychiatric isolator» — a special cell with rubber walls for prisoners prone to self-harm — where he was stripped naked and given no underwear. Cellmates were told by the administration that Baburin had allegedly filed a complaint against them. He was also denied the books and magazines he had subscribed to. On April 1, it was announced that Baburin had been additionally charged with attempted treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code, with application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code): this is how the investigation qualified the same arson of the military recruiting office «in order to assist» the Azov Battalion «in carrying out activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation». On September 27, Baburin was beaten by escorts. Her lawyer demanded the recusal of the investigator and filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office. The next day, three girls, including Baburin’s friend, were searched, she was not released after questioning and her lawyer was not allowed to see her. She was later released by the investigator as a witness.

Irkutsk

Ilia Podkamenny, activist, 18.

For more details see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

 

Undergoing training for the purpose of conducting terrorist activities (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code)

Undergoing training knowingly received for the purpose of conducting terrorist activities or committing one of the crimes referred to under Articles 205.1 (assistance to terrorist activities), 205.2 (public justification of terrorism), 206 (hostage-taking), 208 (activities of an illegal armed group), 211 (hijacking of air, water or railway transportation infrastructure), 277 (assault on the life of a political or public figure), 278 (forcible seizure or retention of power), 279 (armed mutiny), 360 (attack on persons or institutions that use international protection), 361 (acts of international terrorism) of the Criminal Code, including the acquisition of knowledge, practical skills and abilities through physical and psychological training pertaining to how to commit these crimes, how to handle weapons, explosive devices, poisons, as well as other substances and objects that impose a danger to others. The potential punishment is up to 20 years in prison.

Vladivostok

D., a minor.

According to the investigation, from July 31 to September 8, 2023, he had been studying online with the intention of setting fire to a military recruiting office, motivated by a «negative attitude towards the special military operation» and «enmity and hostility towards the current authorities of the Russian Federation.» The teenager has been taken into custody.

Chelyabinsk

Alexey Nuriev, 37, and Roman Nasryev, 27, residents of the town of Bakal, musicians.

For more details see the section on Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Irkutsk

Ilia Podkamenny, activist, 18.

For more details see the section describing Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Failure to report a crime (Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code)

Failure to report to the authorities empowered to handle reports of crimes regarding a person (or persons) known, based on credible information, to be preparing, committing, or having committed at least one of the crimes outlined in Articles 205 (committing a terrorist act), 205.1 (assisting terrorist activities), 205.2 (public justification of terrorism), 205.3 (undergoing training for terrorist activities), 205.4 (activities of a terrorist community), 205.5 (activities of a terrorist organisation), 206 (hostage-taking), 208 (activities of an illegal armed formation), 211 (hijacking of air or water transport or railway rolling stock), 220 (unlawful handling of nuclear materials or radioactive substances), 221 (theft or extortion of nuclear materials or radioactive substances), 277 (assault on the life of a state or public figure), 278 (violent seizure of power), 279 (armed rebellion), 360 (attack on individuals or entities enjoying international protection), and 361 (act of international terrorism) of the Criminal Code. Possible punishment is up to one year of imprisonment.

Saint Petersburg

Tatiana L.-O. (26) and Anna Z. (28), both teachers.

According to the investigation, they were aware of their acquaintance Maxim Asryan’s intention to set fire to the military enlistment office, and at his request, Anna purchased flammable liquid. Both of them signed undertakings not to leave the area.

Sabotage (Part 1, Article 281 of the Criminal Code)

The commission of an explosion, arson or other acts aimed at destroying or damaging enterprises, structures, transport infrastructure and means of transport, means of communication, critical public infrastructure in order to undermine the economic security and defence capability of the Russian Federation. Possible penalties range from 10 to 15 years' imprisonment.

Krasnodar

Leon Darsht, resident of Gulkevichi, 19. During his interview with the investigator in a case of damage to property (Part 2, Article 167 of the Criminal Code, see above), he admitted setting fire to a railway transformer box. In January 2023, he was charged with sabotage (Article 281 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigators, on September 4, 2022, Darsht threw four Molotov cocktails at a transformer (according to other sources, a sectioning point) on the tracks between Armavir and Kurganinsk in order to stop the supply of military equipment and to protest against the special military operation.

On March 30, 2023, it emerged that Darsht had also been charged with preparing to blow up a police station. According to the investigation, he was going to blow up a police station, motivated by his 'nationalist views', in order to stop the flow of migrants into the region. It is not known under which article the case was opened.

Voronezh

Alexander Dimitrenko, 30.

A graduate of the chemical faculty of a local university, also studied Ukrainian culture. Presumably right wing. Detained on 28 May 2022 after a search. The security forces allegedly found explosives and a Ukrainian passport in his house, but Dimitrenko himself says that they planted the physical evidence on him. Grigory Severin, who was with him in the pre-trial detention centre, said that the explosive allegedly found during the search was packed in a juice box that had been rubbed against a sheet in Dimitrenko’s apartment, apparently to leave traces of his DNA on it. A case was initiated in preparation for sabotage (Part 1 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and illegal possession of explosives (Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). Dimitrenko is accused of preparing for an explosion at the Maslovka railway station. The persecuted spoke about torture, including that a bag was put on his head in order to obtain the evidence the security forces needed. According to Severin, Dimitrenko «does not support the Putin regime, including the so-called SVO (special military operation).» Later, the telegram channel «Free People of Voronezh» published Dimitrenko’s letter, in which he said that during the search the FSB officers brought their own witnesses, beat him and forced him to record a video with confessions; the investigator, Danila Maltsev, did not show him the search warrant. The search lasted no more than seven minutes. When Dimitrenko asked why they had planted the evidence on him, agent Denis Gerasimov replied: «Sanya, you are not white and fluffy — you have to serve time». The FSB officers checked the contacts on the detainee’s phone, threatened him with life imprisonment and instigated him to testify against people he knew. When Dimitrenko was taken from the pre-trial detention centre to the Investigation Department for interrogation, he was beaten again and had a bag put over his head. Investigator Maltsev told him: «The time when you could write whatever you wanted in your messages is over. Now it’s war, you’re an enemy for us, you have to go to prison. Or what, should I bring an electric shock device?» After the lawyer’s visit, Dimitrenko again claimed his innocence and refused to testify against himself under Article 51 of the Constitution. They continued to beat him until his return to pre-trial detention, including «with a drill or a screwdriver», forcing him to say the word «palyanitsya» and threatening to put pressure on his relatives. The lawyer requested a medical examination, but the man was not seen by a doctor until two weeks later, when the bruises had disappeared. According to the latest information, Dimitrenko has also been charged with high treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code).

Nizhnevartovsk

An anonymous person

According to investigators, he planned to commit arson and other actions to destroy relay metal storage cabinets that hold equipment for railway automation and telemechanics systems on railway lines and stations. He purchased the necessities to carry out his plan and headed to a previously determined part of the Sverdlovsk Railway where he was arrested by FSB officers. His case was initiated under the article for attempting to commit subversive destruction (Part 3 of Article 30 and Part 1 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code). He is in custody.

Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk region)

Minor, a resident of Asha, city in Chelyabinsk region, 17.

For more details, see the section on Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Simferopol

Igor Kupich, resident of the village of Pionerskoye, 39.

According to the investigation, on the night of May 28, 2022, he threw a bottle containing an inflammable mixture through the window of the military recruiting centre. Kupich was charged with hooliganism with weapons (Part 2, Article 213 of the Criminal Code) and illegal storage of explosives (Part 1, Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code). He was taken into custody. Then the charges were allegedly changed from hooliganism to sabotage. Later, it seems that another charge of illegal storage of explosives and preparation of sabotage was added: according to the investigation, Kupich was going to blow up the railway tracks and had bought an anti-tank mine for this purpose. He took photographs of the railway bridge to determine the location of the explosive device. On March 30, 2023, the Crimean citizen was sentenced to 10 years in a strict regime penal colony.

We have no information on the details of the case, but the disproportionate punishment, as well as the strong possibility that the explosives were planted, suggest that the prosecution of the Crimean resident was politically motivated. Kupich was described as a political prisoner and a «so-called 'arsonist'» by a former deputy of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Nariman Dzhelyal, who was also sentenced to 17 years in prison for sabotage in connection with the explosion of a gas pipeline in the village of Perevalnoye.

Currently, there are more than 60 people facing persecution because of successfully burning or allegedly planning to burn down railways in Russia. Such actions are often classified as sabotage and subversion. Since the end of 2022, subversion criminal cases have soared as new laws expanded criminal responsibility for sabotage to training people, supporting subversion, and participation in a «guerilla organisation». We cannot say with full confidence that all these criminal cases are connected to the anti-war movement. Occasionally authorities impose anti-war motives on the persecuted.

 

Activity of an illegal armed formation (Article 208 of the Criminal Code)

Part 2, Article 208 of the Criminal Code: Participation in an illegal armed formation

Involvement in an armed formation which is not authorised by Russian Federal Law or involvement in an armed formation on the territory of a foreign state where said formation is not authorised by the laws of said state with intentions acting against the interests of the Russian Federation. Potential punishment — up to 15 years of prison.

Zubtsov (Tver Oblast)

Sergey Kolin, video blogger and former «trash streamer» (broadcasting subculture involving humiliation or abuse, usually for financial rewards from the audience), 28.

Kolin hosted the YouTube channel «Kupala TV». Sergey was accused of preparing or intending to join an illegal armed formation, under two Articles of the Criminal Code (Part 2 of Article 208, and Article 30). According to the investigation, he planned to join the Freedom of the legion «Freedom to Russia». Andrey Trofimov, prosecuted under the same Article of the Criminal Code, met Kolin in a pre-trial detention centre. Trofimov shared that in his videos, Kolin told «real news» and expressed support for Ukraine, where he used to live some time ago. Kolin was detained in April 2022 in the small town of Pogoreloe Gorodishche. According to Trofimov, the case is completely fabricated, the case file contains Telegram correspondence with the provocateur, and the witnesses are fake. Furthermore, says Trofimov, after Kolin was detained, he was transported in a car trunk. On March 16, 2023, the court found Kolin insane and ordered him to be committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Andrey Trofimov, writer, political activist, 56.

For more information, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

Kazan

Arseny Glebov, 28.

On May 18, he was detained at an airport in Moscow on his way to Georgia. According to his sister, Glebov was forced to buy a ticket to Kazan with his own money. After he arrived in Kazan, he was detained. The next day, his home was searched as part of a criminal case for inciting mass riots (see above). On May 20, the young man was ordered to appear for questioning as a witness. Later, a criminal case was opened against him for participating in an illegal armed militia (part 2 of article 208 of the Criminal Code with the application of part 3 of article 30 of the Criminal Code). Glebov’s comment under one of the videos of Alexei Arestovich, an adviser to the President of Ukraine at that moment, was cited as the reason for the investigation. Glebov wrote that he intended to assist Ukraine. Later the information appeared that according to the investigators, Glebov, while in Armenia at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, contacted the military attache of Ukraine and asked to accept him into the International Legion. Later, he allegedly received recommendations on how to leave Russia and receive a Ukrainian visa. He was taken into custody. Later, another case was opened against Glebov for the dissemination of deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation motivated by political hatred (clause «d» part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to information from his lawyer, the reason was his post that Russia was bombing cities and maternity hospitals in Ukraine. Later the information appeared that the reason for the prosecution under this Article was Glebov’s address to the president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky. According the the investigators, Glebov wrote that he was «ready to do any work that would help the victory of Ukraine approach, ” and as well promised „to drive to any part of Ukraine within a week after receiving a transit visa.“ The case is already in court.

Belgorod

This person wished to remain anonymous, resident of Salekhard (Yamalo-Nenetsk Autonomous District), worked for the Russian online delivery platform Yandex Eda, 21.

According to investigators, he intended to go to Ukraine and fight for the Ukrainian military. In April 2022, he was arrested while trying to cross the border to Ukraine. Unconfirmed reports say the formal reason for his detention was his refusal to undergo a medical examination under article 20.20 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation–consumption of alcoholic beverages in prohibited places, consumption of narcotics or psychotropic substances, consumption of new potentially dangerous psychoactive substances or intoxicating substances in public places. As a result, the young man was put under administrative arrest for 15 days. However, on the day of his release, he was taken to court where criminal proceedings were initiated against him. RIA news agency reported that during his interrogation he said he had financial problems and wanted to earn some money to rebuild Ukraine. An acquaintance of his believes these words are not true and that he was going to fight for ideological reasons. SHOT, a Telegram channel, claimed the young man was ordered to fight by the administrator of a Ukrainian Telegram channel. According to SHOT, they found «photos of ‘our’ military equipment and also videos containing monologues on the detainee’s phone. In these videos, the detainee stated he wanted to shoot Russian soldiers.» An FSB investigator told the victim’s mother that her son was in contact with a girl from Ukraine, who gave him phone numbers of people from volunteer battalions, explained how to get to the border, and transferred him some money. The girl that was identified by the investigator is a server admin for a Japanese computer game the young man loved to play. This woman in a conversation with Mediazona (independent Russian media) denied supporting or supervising the victim in any way. On February 16, 2023, the resident of Salekhard was sentenced to three years in a general regime penal colony.

Moscow

Denis Zhuravlev, 28.

For more details see the section on Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code.

Konakovo (Tver Oblast)

Andrei Trofimov, writer, activist, 56.

For further details, see the section on Article 280 of the Criminal Code.

 

Part 3 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code: Participation in an Armed Conflict on the Territory of a Foreign State for Purposes Contrary to the Interests of the Russian Federation

Participation in an armed conflict by a Russian citizen or a person without citizenship permanently residing in the Russian Federation, military actions or other actions involving the use of weapons and military equipment on the territory of a foreign state for purposes contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation are punishable with up to 20 years in prison. In July 2022, this was incorporated into the Criminal Code.

Moscow

Anatoly Poplavsky, an employee of an oil and gas company, 54.

On October 6, 2022, he was detained and written up for disorderly conduct because he was swearing. Poplavsky, according to Ostorozhno Novosti (independent Russian media), explained he was swearing because he had divorced his wife, and his children were in Ukraine. He was arrested for 15 days. After that, criminal charges were initiated. Originally, he was charged with creating an illegal armed militia (part 1 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code), but then the charges were reclassified as participation in an armed conflict. On October 21, Poplavsky was taken into custody. SOTA (independent Russian media) reported the man who was sitting in the same cell as Poplavsky at the detention centre said Poplavsky had marks on his arm from a stun gun. Poplavsky told him they [security forces] «put a bag on his head and took him to the forest, » where they forced him to unlock his phone and show his messages after he was detained on October 6. They [security forces] found comments critical of the Russian army. The case was initiated because Poplavsky applied to join the Freedom for Russia Legion (a legion of Belarusians and Russians who voluntarily defected and joined the Ukrainian military). According to Poplavsky, he sent an application but was drunk and did it while he was overwhelmed with emotion. He said he was not going to join.

 

Using digital information for unlawful influence on the critical infrastructure (Part 1 of Article 274.1 of the Criminal Code)

Creation, distribution and (or) use of the computer programmes or other digital information, deliberately intended for the unlawful influence on the critical information infrastructure of the Russian Federation, including for the purpose of destroying, blocking, modification, copying of information that is part of the infrastructure, or neutralizing its security features. Possible penalty is up to five years of imprisonment.

Rostov-on-Don

Yevgeny Kotikov, programmer.

According to the investigation, after the war outbreak in Ukraine, he «has supported the Kyiv regime» and joined a group of hackers that performed DDoS-attacks on the sites of the Ministry of Defence and the President of the Russian Federation. On the 3rd of February, 2023, Kotikov was sentenced to 3 years of suspended sentence and a fine of 800 thousand roubles (approx. $10.000 or €9 340). But on the 10th of April, the court of appeal replaced the suspended sentence with detention in a penal settlement colony.

Igor Bayandin

According to the investigation, he carried out a hacking attack on an «internet resource designed to block the activity of websites of Russian companies that are part of the critical information infrastructure of the Russian Federation, ” because he had a „negative attitude toward the Special Military Operation conducted by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.“ Bayandin pleaded guilty. On June 23, he was sentenced to two years in a penal colony and fined 500,000 rubles (app. $5,540).

 

Slander (Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code)

Slander, i.e. the dissemination of knowingly false information discrediting the honor and dignity or damaging the reputation of a person. Possible punishment: up to 2, 3 or 5 years in prison depending on the article part.

Prokhladny (Kabardino-Balkaria)

Anastasiya Emelyanova, activist, blogger, 38.

Her house was searched by about 20 security officers in connection to a case on slander against Zhanna Makhova, an entrepreneur from Orlov region. The activist connects the case launch to her antiwar stance; on her Instagram, she made statements against the military draft and the «special operation» in general.

Penza

Valentin Snegirev, blogger, 38.

A case was opened in connection to a post where Snegirev analyzed payments to participants of the war in Ukraine and suggested that money was taken from the Penza region budget. Region governor Oleg Melnichenko reported Snegirev to the police. Snegirev is currently located outside of Russia.

In 2021, the Penza police had already opened criminal proceedings against Valentin Snegirev for defamation (Part 2, Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code) following a complaint from the region’s vice-governor, Sergei Fedotov. Snegirev has been placed on the federal wanted list.

Lipetsk

Gennady Makarov

The case was initiated due to a social media post that Makarov allegedly posted on February 24th, 2022. The post allegedly said that the German apartment of the region’s governor, Igor Artamonov, should have been given to persons from Ukraine.

In March, Makarov’s house was searched in connection to an article on discrediting the Russian armed forces (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), but a case was not initiated. In December, Makarov was searched again, this time for defamation, and the same computers and phones as in the previous search were seized. The law enforcement officers refused to allow a lawyer to attend the investigation or to call an ambulance because Makarov and his mother felt ill. Makarov tried to have the search declared illegal, but was refused. When he filed a complaint about the refusal, he learned that the case had been dropped.

 

On March 18th, 2022, the houses of activists and journalists in Pskov were searched in connection to a case of slander against Governor Mikhail Vedernikov. The searches were initiated after a post surfaced on the Telegram channel Gremyachaya Bashnya on March 10th where, among other things, there was criticism of the Governor’s statements about the dead among the Russian army in Ukraine.

 

Refusal of a witness or a victim to give testimony (article 308 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

Refusal of a witness or a victim to testify or the victim’s evasion of undergoing forensic examination when their consent is not required, or refusal to provide handwriting samples and other samples for comparative analysis. The possible punishment is up to one year of corrective labour.

Ulan-Ude

Nadezhda Nizovkina, a human rights defender, 37.

According to the investigation, she refused to testify against her own client, Natalia Filonova, who is accused of assaulting police officers due to her participation in a protest action against mobilisation (see above).

 

Contempt of a judge (Part 2, Article 297 of the Criminal Code)

Contempt of court, expressed in insulting a judge, jury or other participants in a trial. Possible punishment: up to 2 years of corrective labour or up to six months’ imprisonment.

Shuya

Sergey Veselov, 53.

The reason for initiating a criminal case was a YouTube video where Veselov called Nikolay Vergazov, a judge of the Frunzensky district court of Ivanovo, a «moron». Previously, this judge had imposed a preventive measure against Veselov in the form of a ban on certain actions regarding a case of vandalism and discrediting the Armed Forces (see above). That decision was later cancelled. On 22 August 2023, Veselov was sentenced to 300 hours of compulsory labour for insulting a judge.

Later, another case was brought against Veselov — for rehabilitation of Nazism (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code, see above) and discrediting the armed forces (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code).

False report of a terrorist attack (Article 207 of the Criminal Code)

The deliberately false report of a terrorist attack committed in relation to social infrustructural objects or causing major damage. Possible punishment: up to 5 years in prison.

St. Petersburg

Evgeniya Smetankina, 27, Daria Heikinen, 19, Maria Malysheva, Polina Titova (Paladdya Bashurova), 24, Lelya Nordic, Daniil Sitnikov, Olga Melnikova, Alexander Dubovsky, Ilshat Nafikov, Konstantin Pokhilchuk, 26, Denis Mikhailov, 27, and Marina Matsapulina, 31.

Detained after searches. According to investigators, on March 1st, 2022, the 77th police department received a call about a bomb placed at that office. On March 5th and 6th, dozens of houses, primarily belonging to local activists, were searched. On March 7th, Smetankina, Titova, Matsapulina, Nafikov and Dubovsky were released after signing a pledge to appear at first notice. Heikinen, Malyshev, Nordic and Melnikova were also released though precautionary measures in their case are unknown. On July 2nd, 2022, the case against Malysheva was closed. On August 5th, it became known that the case against Nordik was closed. Dubovsky, Matsapulina, Melnikova, Nafikov and Smetankina are represented by OVD-Info attorneys. On December 12, it emerged that Nafikov’s case had been dropped. Bashurova left Russia.

Mikhailov was at first released before being detained again. On March 9th, information appeared that he is a suspect in connection to a case of the illegal storage of ammunition (Part 1, Article 222 of the Criminal Code, see above). Mikhailov was later released and he left Russial.

Pokhilchuk later said in an interview that he was beaten during the search and asked about his posts about the Russian army. After his detention, the activist said he was given an ultimatum: leave or face prosecution for his online statements. Pokhilchuk chose to leave, but he did not have a passport at the time. As a result, he was searched again at the end of March for a similar article: according to investigators, a false bomb threat had come from an anonymous email address. He was held in a temporary detention centre for two days, after which Pokhilchuk left the country.

Yulia Karpukhina, 30, Dara Shchukina, Polina Titova (Paladdya Bashurova), 24, feminist activists, Polina Barabash, 23, Vesna movement activist, Artem Uymanen, 22, Vesna ex-press secretary.

Karpukhina, Barabash, and Shchukina were detained at night on May 8th, 2022, following searches. Bashurova and Uymanen were detained the following evening. Barabash, Uymanen, and Bashurova were released after signing a pledge to appear at first notice. Later, information appeared that Karpukhina and Shchukina were also released. The case was filed on April 29th in connection to a bomb scare at a branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). The Sota outlet clarified that the bomb scare was delivered in a letter where there was also included a ransom demand that was meant to be granted to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Bashurova is also a suspect in a case concerning the false report of a terrorist attack (see above). Karpukhina, Uymanen and Bashurova have left Russia.

Barabash is represented by an OVD-Info attorney.

Viktoria Arefyeva, journalist, 22, Polina Titova (Paladdya Bashurova), 24, feminist activist, Evgeniya Litvinova, member of Saint Petersburg Civil Rights Defence Council, Bella Rapoport, activist, sociologist, Anton Grachev, civil rights defender, 42, Dmitry Martynichev, 49, Daniil Krinari, Andrey Belous, D. Bogdanov, A. Barykina, E. Pavlov.

According to preliminary data, the case was initiated in connection to a a message regarding a bomb threat to Moscovsky District Court in Saint Petersburg. All the listed persons were detained after searches on September 24th, 2022. There had already been three bomb scare cases initiated against Bashurova. Andrey Belous’s wife reported to OVD-Info that the search warrant mentioned Belous’s statements about the war. Late at night on September 25th and in the morning on September 26th, Rapoport, Grachev, Arefyeva, Bashurov, Krinari, Martynichev, Belous and Litvinova were released. Grachev and Martynichev signed an agreement to appear in court. Bashurova and Arefieva signed a non-disclosure agreement. The details about the other detainees are unknown. Litvinova and Bashurova have left Russia.

Arefyeva is represented by OVD-Info attorney Evgeny Kheifets, Bashurova by OVD-Info attorney Igor Skachko and Grachev by OVD-Info attorney Kseniya Briksa.

Martynichev is also charged with battery (Article 116 of the Criminal Code, see above).

Krinari was charged with collaborating with a foreign state (Article 275.1, see below).

Pavlov was also allegedly charged with preparing to set fire to a military recruiting centre (see above). He is also charged with incitement to mass disorder and publicly justifying terrorism (see above).

Valeriya Kovalishina, feminist activist, 39, Evgeniya Kazantseva, activist.

They were detained on October 5th and released on October 7th, 2022. The details of the case are unknown. Kovalishina is represented by OVD-Info attorney Rafail Polyakov.

Ukhta (Komi)

Vladislav Kraval, 47.

According to investigators, on September 25th, 2022, he called a police department and gave «knowingly false» information related to the arson of a military draft office. Kraval’s house was searched, the police confiscated the jacket he was allegedly wearing when writing the slogan «No to war» and a crossed Z letter at an unknown location. While the search was conducted, Kraval was serving an administrative 6-day arrest in a pre-trial detention center on charges of evading compulsory work (Part 4, Article 20.25 of the Code of Administrative Offences.) Later, he was placed into custody in relation to a criminal case. Apart from the bomb scare charge, he is accused of vandalism on the grounds of political hatred (Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code): according to the investigation, he damaged a banner with the letter Z because of «disagreement with the state’s position on the SMO and mobilisation». In December, Kraval was placed under house arrest. His charge was changed to false reporting of a terrorist act with the intent to destabilise the authorities (Part 3, Article 207 of the Criminal Code). In May 2023, Kraval was remanded in custody. Back in March, the prosecution requested that Kraval be transferred to pre-trial detention centre, claiming that he had violated the conditions of his house arrest on several occasions — in particular by approaching the Palace of Culture, where he had previously damaged a banner. The court subsequently rejected the request. On June 6, 2023, Kraval was sentenced to six years and three months in a general regime penal colony.

Izhevsk

Aleksandr Pogudin

According to the investigation, on September 29, 2022, he left an empty bottle with a note near the building of the military recruitment centre: at first it was reported that it contained a text speaking against the mobilisation, but later it turned out that the note contained the intention to blow up the office. After his detention, Pogudin said that he wanted to scare the staff of the military recruitment centre in order to stop the mobilisation. Initially, the young man was charged with knowingly making a false report of an explosion with the aim of destabilising the authorities (Part 3, Article 207 of the Criminal Code), but it later emerged that he had been charged with knowingly making a false report of an explosion against a social infrastructure facility (Part 2, Article 207 of the Criminal Code). Pogudin was taken into custody. In April 2023, the measure of restriction was changed to a ban on certain actions. The court reclassified the charge under Part 1 of Article 207 of the Criminal Code, as the military recruitment centre is not an object of social infrastructure. On July 19, 2023, Pogudin was sentenced to one year and four months' restricted liberty and released due to serving the sentence.

 

There were searches in connection to a case of disinformation about a terrorist act on March 6th, 2022, in Kazan (the circumstances are unknown) and Samara (according to the local activist Boris Fedyukin, who was interrogated as a wintness, the case was launched after an anonimous call to the Kirovsk region police with a claim that an atomic bomb was planted in the town). On March 12th there were searches at the houses of Krasnodar activists associated with Ekologicheskaya vakhta po Severnomu Kavkazu, as well as the attorney Mikhail Benyash’s house. At the same time, the offiials that conducted these searches claimed that the deputy chief editor of Protokol, g Matvey Kurdyukov, made a call to the Public Chamber and is responsible for a bomb scare. On March 13th there was at least one search in Novosibirsk: a criminal case was launched there after a bomb scare call to the Aura mall on January 31st. On March 18th and 20th, as well as on April 2nd and May 6th, searches and interrogations were conducted in Volgograd: allegedly, messages consisting of a bomb scare were spread via email.

On April 2nd, there were searches conducted in Novosibirsk and once more in Saint Petersburg. In Novosibirsk, a case was launched concerning a bomb scare at a psychiatric asylym or children’s psychoneurological dispensary. On April 4th, in Sochi, local activist Vyacheslav Chistoserdov was searched. He was told that someone had made a call with a bomb scare to «MoreMall» mall. Chistoserdov’s status in the case is unknown. On April 15th, in Karachaev (Bryanskaya region), activist Bukola Odzho was searched. The details of the case are unknown. The activist connects the prosecution with an antiwar letter in which she wrote to the Bryansk administration.

On May 5th, in Cheboksary, Maxim Suprun was searched. According to unconfirmed information, there were also searches conducted in Rostov-on-Don. In the majority of cases, the chrages were in connection to Part 2, Article 207 of the Criminal Code concerning the false report of a terrorist attack committed in relation to objects of social infrustructure, or which caused significant damage. On April 29th, in Naberezhnye Chelny, four activists were searched. A case was launched concerning a bomb scare «with a motive to destabilize the government» (Part 3, Article 207 of the Criminal Code).

According to investigators, on April 1st someone sent a bomb scare at two banks via email. On May 8th, in Samara, four more people were searched. These searches were related to a message on a Gosuslugi platform with a threat to commit terrorist attacks on May 9th «in order to avenge the crimes that Russian subhumans committed against the Third Reich.» Early in the morning on May 9th, there were searches in Voronezh and at least three people were interrogated in relation to a case concerning a bomb scare at Zheleznodorozhniy and Leninskiy district courts. Another search took place in Novosibirsk on May 29th. 18-year-old activist Pavel Lukin was told that he had written a message to the Ministry of Emergency Situations which contained a bomb scare at 20 schools and a court building, as well as a demand of 150 thousand rubles ransom for him to deactivate the bombs. At the same time, he is listed as a witness in this case.

On June 9, Mikhail Kovalev, the author of the «Neshutki» telegram channel, was detained in Samara in a similar case, the details of which are unknown.

On November 7, activists in Samara were again searched, this time on the basis of reports of mines planted in courts on September 24, and a case was opened for false reports of mines «with the intent to destabilise the activities of the authorities» (Part 3, Article 207 of the Criminal Code).

A search in connection with a case under Article 207 of the Criminal Code also took place in August 2023 in the village of Reshetikha in the Nizhny Novgorod region at the local anti-war activist Alexander Gorelov’s residence. After the search, he was taken to the police station. There they drew up a protocol against him under the article on discrediting the Russian army (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The reason for issuing the protocol was a «No to War» sticker on the man’s car. After the law enforcement officers took Gorelov away, unknown individuals came to his house and began to paint over the yellow colour on the roof, which had been painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

dditionally, the Ministry of Internal Affairs informed that it revealed a group of young men from 13 to 21 years old were «suspected in a series of deliberately false messages about upcoming terrorist acts related to Russian and Belorussian city infrastructure.» Two alleged group leaders were detained, both are 16 years old, one of them is a Moscow region resident while the other is from Vitebsk region (Belarus). There is information about searches on March 10th, 2022, in Moscow and Krasnoyarsk as well as Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov and Novosibirsk regions. It remains unknown whether the case is connected to analogous cases in Saint Petersburg, Samara, Kazan and Krasnodar. It is also unknown whether these causes were opened against civil and political activists or those who protest the war. It remains unknown whether this case is connected to the cases listed above. It is also unknown whether these cases were opened against civil and political activists or those who protest the war.

Apart from that, on March 28th information appeared concerning a criminal case connected to Part 2, Article 207 of the Criminal Code concerning a report made by a Moscow resident about an alleged prepared terrorist attack in a Kolomna cafe. It was claimed, with reference to FSB operatives, that the suspect «received instructions from Ukraine» for remuneration.

 

Activity of a non-commercial organization encroaching on the personality or human rights (Article 239 of the Criminal Code)

Part 2, Article 239 of the Criminal Code: Establishing an organization

Establishing a non-commercial organization whose activities are related to inciting citizens to refuse to perform their civic duties or to commit other unlawful acts. Punishable with up to 3 years imprisonment.

Moscow

Bogdan Litvin, Vesna movement federal coordinator, 29, Valentin Khoroshenin, 21, and Evgeny Zateev, 22, coordinators of the movement.

On May 7th, 2022, Litvin’s parents’ apartment was searched while Litvin himself was located outside of Russia. ​​Khoroshenin and Zateev were detained the same day after being searched and transported to Moscow. They were later subjected to a measure of restraint in the form of a ban on certain activities.​​ Initially, the investigation claimed that Litvin was the founder of a non-commercial organization that «incited citizens to commit unlawful acts» and promoted «such acts». Namely, it promoted participation in antiwar demonstrations on February 25th, 26th and 27th. Seven more people are listed as participants in this non-commercial organization. Litvin is now wanted. On October 6th, the Ministry of Justice placed Litvin on a list of «foreign agents.» In May 2023, the charges against Khoroshenin and Zateev were reclassified from participation in the activities of an NPO infringing on the rights of citizens (Part 3, Article 239 of the Criminal Code) to the creation of such an organisation. On June 6, Khoroshenin and Zateev were detained after searches in St Petersburg and transferred to Moscow. It later emerged that a new case had been opened under a number of articles against members of Vesna and people whom the investigation believed to be involved in the movement’s activities (see below).

Vasily Neustroev, member of the St. Petersburg regional council of the Yabloko party, 27.

For more details, see the section on Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code.

 

Part 3, Article 239 of the Criminal Code: Participation in an organization

Participation in the activities of a non-commercial organization whose activities are related to inciting citizens to refuse to perform their civic duties or to commit other unlawful acts. Punishable with up to 2 years in prison.

Moscow

Roman Maximov, 28, Timofey Vaskin, 21, Ivan Drobotov, 27, Angelina Roshchupko, 24, Ekaterina Goncharova, 21.

They are defendants in the same case as Bogdan Litvin, Valentin Khoroshenin and Evgeny Zateev. Roman Maximov was detained in Veliky Novgorod on May 8, 2022, and transported to Moscow. On the night of May 9th, in Moscow, Timofey Vaskin, former Anti-Corruption Foundation employee Ivan Drobotov and Skat Media journalist Angelina Roshchupko were detained following searches. There is no information about any investigative actions against Avtozak LIVE journalist Ekaterina Goncharova. She is currently outside of Russia and has been placed on a wanted list. Roshchupko, Vaskin, and Maximov received a ban on certain actions as a precautionary measure. Drobotov has left Russia and has been placed on a wanted list. Maximov has also left Russia and is also wanted. Roshchupko and Vaskin were also put on the wanted list. On October 14, 2022, the Vesna movement was added to the registry of public associations considered to be «foreign agents». All those involved in the case, including the aforementioned Bogdan Litvin, Valentin Khoroshenin and Evgeny Zateev, are listed in the registry under the column «Information on the founders and/or leaders of the association». On December 6, the movement was recognised as an extremist organisation.

Vaskin is represented by OVD-Info attorney Alexander Salamov. Drobotov is represented by OVD-Info attorney Alan Kachmazov. Maximov is represented by OVD-Info attorney Konstantin Markin. Roshchupko is represented by OVD-Info attorney Mikhail Biryukov.

On September 23rd, information emerged that the «Vesna» case was combined with a case on inciting public disorder (Part 1.1, Article 212 of the Criminal Code.) There is no information on the defendants or details of the case.

 

Organizing an extremist community (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code: Creation of an extremist community

Creation of an extremist community, i.e. an organised group of persons for the purpose of preparing or committing extremist crimes, as well as the leadership of such an extremist community, its parts or structural subdivisions forming such a community, and the creation of an association of organisers, leaders or other representatives of parts or structural subdivisions of such a community for the purpose of developing plans and/or conditions for the commission of extremist crimes. Possible punishment is up to ten years' imprisonment.

Moscow

Bogdan Litvin, 29, and Andrei Lozitsky, 21, federal coordinators of the Vesna movement, Valentin Khoroshenin, 21, and Evgeniy Zateev, 22, coordinators of the Vesna movement, Vasily Neustroev, member of the St Petersburg regional council of the Yabloko party, 27, Yan Ksenzhepolsky, activist from Tver, 23, Anna Arkhipova, 25, Pavel Sinelnikov, 21, Ekaterina Goncharova, 21, Gleb Kondratyev, 20, Makar Dyakonov, 20, Timofey Martynenko, 27, Ekaterina Bushkova, 26, Lev Gyammer, editor-in-chief of Skat media and former coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Krasnodar, 22, Vladislav Sorvenkov, 25, Alexander Kashevarov, former coordinator of the Chelyabinsk branch of the movement, 20, Kira Pushkareva, 26, Anna Nazarova, 20, Mikhail Tukh, 22, Maria Lakhina, 27, and Vladimir Arzhanov, assistant to a deputy of the Novosibirsk City Council, 25.

On June 6, 2023, Khoroshenin, Zateev, Neustroev, Ksenzhepolsky, Arkhipova and Sinelnikov were detained after searches (the first three in St. Petersburg, Ksenzhepolsky in Tver, Arkhipova in Novosibirsk, Sinelnikov in Barnaul) and transported to Moscow (information about Arkhipova and Sinelnikov appeared a day later). By this time, Litvin, Khoroshenin, Zateev and Goncharova were already defendants in the case on the activities of an NPO infringing on the personal and civil rights initiated against Vesna activists and people who, according to the investigation, were involved in the movement (the first three under Part 2, Article 239 of the Criminal Code, Goncharova — under Part 3, Article 239 of the Criminal Code, see above). Neustroev’s door was sawed open and he was taken out of the flat in handcuffs. It later emerged that all six had been charged with creating an extremist community (Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code) in connection with Vesna’s activities (although not all of them had anything to do with the movement). Sinelnikov was also charged with participation in the activities of an extremist community (Part 2, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code). In addition, all except Sinelnikov were charged with spreading disrespectful information about the «Days of Military Honour» by a group of people (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). Ksenzhepolsky, Arkhipova and Neustroev were also charged with public calls to action against state security, committed by an organised group (Part 3, Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code), and spreading «fakes» about the Russian army by a group of people with a motive of hatred (Paragraphs «b», «e», Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Neustroev was also charged with organising the activities of an NPO, infringing on the personal and civil rights (Part 2, Article 239 of the Criminal Code) and inciting mass riots (Part 1.1, Article 212 of the Criminal Code). The basis for the charges in most of the articles is based on Vesna’s social media posts in 2022. On September 23, it became known that Vesna’s case had been merged with the case of incitement to mass riots. On June 8, 2023, all six were taken into custody. In July, it emerged that Khoroshenin had been threatened by other detainees in pre-trial detention facility; the activist also complained of health problems. Ksenzhepolsky said in July that law enforcement officers had tried to recruit him in pre-trial detention. In October it emerged that he had not received food and clothing parcels for weeks.

The other 15 defendants in the case have been put on a wanted list. All of them, except Lakhina and Arzhanov, are suspected of spreading disrespectful information about the Days of Military Glory by a group of persons (Part 4, Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code); all of them, except Goncharova, Lakhina and Arzhanov, are suspected of spreading «fakes» about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation by a group of persons motivated by hatred (Paragraphs «b» and «d», Part 2, Article 207.1 of of the Criminal Code) and public calls for action against the state security by a group of persons; Martynenko, Pushkareva, Nazarova, Tukh and Lakhina are also suspected of participating in the activities of an extremist group (Part 2, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code). Arzhanov is also suspected of fraud (Part 1, Article 159.1 of the Criminal Code, see below). Martynenko was added to the register of «foreign agents» on October 6, 2022. Kashevarov was prosecuted in 2021 under the article on repeated violation of the order to hold public events (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code), but the case was dropped.

Neustroev, Arkhipova and Ksenzhepolsky are represented by lawyers from OVD-Info.

 

Part 2, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code: Participation in an extremist community

Participation in an extremist community. The possible punishment is up to six years' imprisonment.

Moscow

Pavel Sinelnikov, 21, Timofey Martynenko, 27, Kira Pushkareva, 26, Anna Nazarova, 20, Mikhail Tukh, 22, and Maria Lakhina, 27.

For further details, see section on Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code.

 

Fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code)

Part 1, Article 159 of the Criminal Code

Fraud, meaning the theft of property or the acquisition of the right to another’s property through deceit or abuse of trust. Possible punishment: up to 2 years in prison.

Novosibirsk

Mikhail Ryazantsev, an assistant to a city council deputy, a coordinator of the movement Iskalechenny Novosibirsk.

A search was conducted on March 6th, 2022. According to a formal statement, the case was launched in connection to the theft of 16 thousand rubles and 50 kopeks from the City Council. Deputy Svetlana Kaverzina, who Ryazantsev assisted, claimed that he is not in charge of financial matters at her team. In May 2023, Kaverzina reported that Ryazantsev’s case had been closed due to the expiry of the period of criminal liability.

Vladimir Arzhanov, an assistant to a city council deputy, 25.

A search was conducted on March 6th, 2022. According to a formal statement, the case was launched in connection to the theft of 22,362 rubles and 5 kopeks from the city council «through deceit or abuse of trust.» Arzhanov claims that he is basically accused of stealing his own salary. He has been placed on a wanted list.

Ekaterina Alexandrova, an assistant to a city council deputy, 27.

A search was conducted on March 6th, 2022. According to investigators, Alexandrova stole 11 thousand rubles from the city council. She has been placed on a wanted list.

On the surface, these cases have nothing to do with the campaign against antiwar protests. However, the activists against whom these cases were opened, and the deputies whose assistants they are, believe that the authorities are trying to put pressure on the «Novosibirsk 2020» coalition, which was created by active citizens to oppose the parties «United Russia» and the «CPRF» (Communist Party) during city council elections. According to Vladimir Arzhanov, it is unlikely that the initiation of these cases coincided accidentally with the launch of cases against critics of the war. City council representative Helga Pirogova, whose assistants include Arzhanov and Alexandrova, made a statement against the war and the decoration of public transport vehicles with the letter Z. Later, a case was launched against Pirogova herself concerning the spread of knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces (Section 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), see above.

 

Part 4, Article 159 of the Criminal Code: Fraud by a group or on a large scale

Fraud committed by an organized group of people, or on a large scale, or which caused a person to lose their right to a living space. Punishable with up to 10 years in prison.

Moscow

Andrey Panov, ex-deputy of Aeroflot’s CEO, 48.

The RBC outlet states that this case concerns a contract with American company Bain, signed in 2019, to develop Aeroflot’s marketing strategy. Panov himself notes that the criminal case was launched one day following the publication in the Financial Times of his call to Russian businessmen to resign and sabotage the war «through postponing or neglecting deals and contracts that support the military invasion, as well as Russian propaganda.» Panov is currently outside of Russia. On May 18th, 2022, the court ruled to arrest him in absentia.

 

Illegal sale of psychotropics (Paragraph «B», Part 3, Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code)

The illegal production, sale or transfer of narcotic drugs, psychotropics or similar substances similar, as well as the illegal sale or transfer of plants containing narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, or parts of plants containing narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances in a significant amount. The potential sentence is up to 15 years in prison.

Moscow

Anton Zhuchkov, 39.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 205 of the Criminal Code.

 

Illegal production of pornographic materials (Paragraph «b», Part 3, Article 242 of the Criminal Code)

Illegal production and (or) promotion through the State border of the Russian Federation with the purpose of distribution, public display, advertising or distribution, public display or advertising of pornographic materials or objects using mass media or information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet. Potential punishment is up to six years in prison.

One such case is known to have been brought against an activist after his phone was seized as physical evidence in an administrative case for discrediting the armed forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). According to him, the agents were looking at his posts on different social media in search of other examples of discrediting the armed forces, but came across a certain «obscene picture» in the comments on VKontakte. The activist was later given a three-year suspended sentence.

Involving a minor in a crime (Article 150 of the Criminal Code)

Part 2, Article 150 of the Criminal Code: Involving by a parent

Involving a minor in a crime committed by a parent, educator or another person legally responsible for the minor’s upbringing. Punishable with up to 6 years in prison.

Nalchik

Zaurbek Zhambekov

For more details, see the section concerning Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code.

 

Part 4, Article 150 of the Criminal Code: Involving in a criminal group, in committing a grave crime, or a criminal offense on the grounds of hatred

Involving a minor in a criminal offense, in a criminal group or in committing a grave or particularly serious crime, as well as in committing a criminal offense on the grounds of political, ideological, racial or religious hatred or hostility towards a particular social group. Possible punishment: up to 8 years of imprisonment.

Tolyatti

Alexey Arbuzenko, 46.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 214 of the Criminal Code.

 

Calls for activities against the state security (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code)

Public calls to commit activities directed against the state security apparatus. Punishable with up to 7 years in prison. Introduced to the Criminal Code in July 2022.

Amur region (unknown city)

Nikolay Titarenko, 27.

According to investigators, he posted a publicly-accessible video of the movement «Atesh» in the comments of a public Telegram chat. The video allegedly discusses existing plans for an underground movement within the Russian army «to betray the positions of soldiers and machines» and «organize sabotage in warehouses and headquarters» in order to stop the war. Titarenko has been detained and apparently taken into custody.

Murmansk

Anatoly Voitenok, 33.

According to the investigation, in September 2022 on one of his socials he called for an attack on recruitment centres and their staff. On March 30, 2023, he was sentenced to a fine of 250,000 rubles, but the court reduced the amount to be paid to 150,000 rubles because of the time Voitenok had spent in custody.

Kazan

Parvina Abuzarova, blogger, designer of Muslim clothing for women.

On February 14, 2023, her home was searched. She was threatened with a prison sentence for supporting Ukraine. On March 31, Abuzarova was detained. A local Kazan Telegram channel reported that she encouraged troops to defect and criticized the war in her blog. She didn’t show up for questioning and was put on the wanted list. On the same day, Abuzarova was placed under house arrest. On September 12, 2023, she was sentenced to three years in a general regime penal colony.

Ufa

Ramilya Saitova, activist, 56.

Legal proceedings have been initiated against her for a YouTube video in which Saitova urged drafted individuals to refuse to partake in hostilities, to express their unwillingness to kill, and advocated desertion. Consequently, she has been taken into custody.

In November 2021, Saitova posted a YouTube video featuring an aggressive speech targeting Orthodox churches and the Armenian people. This provocative act resulted in her being sentenced to three years' imprisonment under the charge of public incitement to carry out extremist activities (Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). She was released in the summer of 2022.

Miass (Chelyabinsk region)

Sergey Korneev

According to the investigation, in one of the social networks he publicly called for the sabotage of mobilisation and military activities, as well as for the damage to military equipment and weapons by military personnel. On the 19th of May, 2023, he was sentenced to two years in a general regime colony.

Perm

Sergey Ukhov, a former coordinator of the Navalny Headquarters and creator of the «Perm 36,6» opposition Telegram channel, 38.

In July 2023, he was reported to have been placed on the wanted list. On August 17, several residents of Perm had their apartments searched as part of his case. Details of the case are unknown.

Maykop (Republic of Adygea)

Tatiana Moskalenko

A supporter of the «Civilians of the USSR». According to the investigators, she called for the rallies against the war in Ukraine on her social network page, for the disruption of the «mobilisation activities» and for the actions against the work of the military recruiting offices. Moskalenko was taken into custody on 18 August, 2023.

Saransk (Republic of Mordovia)

An unknown person

According to the investigation, on their Odnoklassniki social network page, they posted material containing calls for military desertion and violent actions against law enforcement authorities. A case has also been initiated for incitement to extremist activity (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code). On 1, June 2023, the court ruled to send them for compulsory treatment.

Moscow

Artem Kamardin, 32, Nikolai Dayneko, 26, and Egor Shtovba, 22, poets.

For further details, see section on Part 2, Article 282 of the Criminal Code.

Bogdan Litvin, 29, and Andrei Lozitsky, 21, federal coordinators of the Vesna movement, Vasily Neustroev, 27, a member of the St Petersburg regional council of the Yabloko party, Yan Ksenzhepolsky, 23, an activist from Tver, Anna Arkhipova, 25, Gleb Kondratiev, 20, Makar Diakonov, 20, Timofei Martynenko, 27, Ekaterina Bushkova, 26, Lev Gyammer, editor-in-chief of Skat media and former coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Krasnodar, 22, Vladislav Sorvenkov, 25, Alexander Kashevarov, former coordinator of the Chelyabinsk branch of the movement, 20, Kira Pushkareva, 26, Anna Nazarova, 20, Mikhail Tukh, 22.

For further details, see the section on Part 1, Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code.

 

As a part of a case initiated in accordance to this article, activists Irina Nyppolainen and Anna Trusova had their premises inspected in Segezha, Karelia. Supposedly, the reason for it was posts on «VKontakte», details unknown.

 

Evasion of conscription for military service (Part 1, Article 328 of the Criminal Code)

Evasion of conscription for military service. Potential punishment: up to two years’ imprisonment.

Zarechny (Penza region)

Maxim Moiseev, Kondol village resident.

Following the beginning of mobilization, he failed to show up at a military recruitment office after being called up because the wrong year of birth was entered on the document. According to his wife, he didn’t show up for a second time due to a stomach ulcer. Later, Moiseev told Mediazona that a district police officer and an investigator called his number, but he refused to go because he didn’t want to fight for «hell knows what.» He was detained at his mother-in-law’s house in Akhlebinovka village. The riot police participated in his detention. According to Moiseev’s wife, the warrant for search on October 3rd, 2022, was backdated to July 5th. Moreover, the name and address of their residence’s owners included errors. Two days after his arrest, Moiseev was released after signing an agreement not to leave the city. A few days later, the case was closed following an intervention from the prosecutor’s office. The case was sent to Moscow for verification but was not resumed. In July 2023, Moiseev was awarded compensation of 20,000 rubles for unlawful prosecution.

 

Failure to carry out the orders during martial law (Part 2.1, Article 332 of the Criminal Code (Part 2.1)

Failure of a subordinate to carry out the orders of a superior officer, given in accordance with established procedures during martial law, wartime or in conditions of armed conflict or combat operations, as well as refusal to participate in military or combat operations. Potential punishment — up to three years of imprisonment. This part was added to the Criminal Code in September 2022.

Pechenga (Murmansk region)

Dmitry Vasilets, soldier, 27.

Took part in military actions in Ukraine. In an interview with Novaya Gazeta he said that he had realized that he didn’t want to kill people. In August 2022, just after his vacation, he filed a report refusing to participate in hostilities. His dismissal from the military was stopped while it was in process due to the beginning of mobilization. On September 28, Vasilets filed another report which caused a criminal case to be opened. On April 7, 2023, he was sentenced to two years and five months in a penal colony. On June 1, an appeals court reduced the sentence by three months.

Denis Vasiliev, a military doctor.

He was awarded the medal «For Combatting COVID-19» by the Ministry of Defence in 2021. He attended military school, and helped soldiers diagnosed with COVID-19, including working in the isolation ward of a hospital. According to human rights defender Pavel Chikov, the reason for the criminal case against him was his refusal to go to the combat zone «due to personal convictions». Vasiliev had previously submitted a letter of resignation, but was unable to leave due to the announcement of mobilisation. He agreed to be transferred to Franz Josef Land at the suggestion of the medical service of the Northern Fleet, but was then ordered to go to Ukraine.

Sochi

Denis Naumov, a contract soldier.

According to the investigation, on February 21, 2023, Naumov’s commander informed his soldiers that they had to go to war and suggested to those who didn’t agree that they leave the line. Naumov left the line and signed a written refusal to follow an order. During his trial he refused to testify, referring to Article 51 of the Constitution. On June 6, 2023 Naumov was sentenced to two years and three months in a penal colony.

Vladivostok

Andrey K., an air-traffic controller and resident of Magadan Oblast.

He told his attorneys that he, along with other air-traffic controllers, was initially supposed to be given an exemption from the draft, but was later denied. The case was prosecuted after Andrei had twice failed to follow an order and refused to go fight in Ukraine: the first time was in October 2022 on a parade ground in the presence of other mobilized soldiers, and the second time was in November in a military unit office. Andrei pleaded guilty and explained to the court that he couldn’t take weapons in his hands and use them against other people because of his religious beliefs. He was sentenced to two years and ten months in a penal colony. The court explained its decision by citing legislation that doesn’t allow replacing military service with an alternative civil service during mobilization.

Vyacheslav Reznichenko

As reported by the telegram channel of the International Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches, he refused to fight in Ukraine for religious reasons. On June 15, 2023, Reznichenko was sentenced to two and a half years in open prison. On September 20, Reznichenko’s son turned four months old.

A case under the same part of the article was initiated against an officer who, in March 2022, refused to go to the front because he grew up in Ukraine and tried to convince the army commander that there were no Nazis in Kharkiv. He tried to obtain a discharge from the Armed Forces. In January 2023, there was an attempt to send him to the military commandant’s office in one of the Ukrainian cities occupied by Russia, but he refused. In September 2023, it became known that the officer had been sentenced to two years and three months in an open prison.

Unauthorized abandmonment of a military unit (Article 337 of the Criminal Code)

Part 2.1, Article 337 of the Criminal Code: Leaving a military unit for up to ten days in time of war

Unauthorised abandonment of a military unit or place of service, as well as failure to appear for service on time without good reason for more than two days, but not more than ten days, committed by a serviceman who is carrying out military service by conscription or under contract, during mobilisation or martial law, in wartime or in situations of armed conflict or hostilities. Possible punishment is up to five years in prison. Included in the Criminal Code in September 2022.

St. Petersburg

Sergei Spiridonov, private.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, attempted to resign from military service and committed disciplinary offences. In May 2022, the command of the military unit made the decision about his early dismissal but, for unknown reasons, Private Spiridonov was never fired. After the start of the «partial» mobilisation, Spiridonov fled from his unit five times and hid at his girlfriend’s house. A criminal case against him was initiated based on Parts 2.1, 3.1 (leaving a unit during wartime for more than ten days) and 5 (leaving a unit during wartime for more than a month) of Article 337 of the Criminal Code. On April 6th, 2023, Spiridonov was sentenced to seven years in a general-regime penal colony.

Ufa

Marsel Kandarov, a contract soldier, 25.

For more information, see the section dedicated to Part 4 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Part 3, Article 337 of the Criminal Code: Abandonment of a military unit for more than ten days

Unauthorized abandonment of a military unit or a place of military service without valid reasons for more than ten days, but not more than one month, committed by a serviceman undergoing military service after being drafted, or under contract, shall be punishable up to three years’ imprisonment.

Pskov

Unidentified person, welder, contracted paratrooper.

According to news outlet «Mediazona» he was among the military servicemen stationed in Bucha. In July 2022, he refused to fight and returned to a military unit near Pskov from where he had previously been sent to war. He spent two weeks in the unit and then went home. In September, it became known that a case had been opened against him on charges of unauthorized abandonment of a military unit for more than 10 days (Part 3, Article 337 of the Criminal Code) and for more than a month (Part 4, Article 337 of the Criminal Code). He was later given a one-year suspended sentence.

Part 3.1 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code: Abandonment of a military unit for more than ten days in the mobilization period

Unauthorised abandonment of a military unit or place of service, as well as failure to appear on time without good reason for service for a period of more than ten days but not more than one month, committed during mobilisation or martial law, in times of war or armed conflict, or during the conduct of combat operations. Possible punishment is up to seven years' imprisonment. Included in the Criminal Code in September 2022.

Ulan-Ude

Unknown person, resident of Yakutia, mobilised.

He was drafted into one of the military units in Ulan-Ude. According to human rights activist Pavel Chikov, he told his commander: «I will not go to Ukraine, I will not shoot Ukrainians, » and then escaped through a hole in the fence. He was then threatened with reprisals.

St. Petersburg

Sergei Spiridonov, private.

For more details, see the section on Part 2.1, Article 337 of the Criminal Code.

 

It was reported about another case initiated under this article. An officer at a tank training college in a large city refused to participate in the war. He tried to resign from his post. After mobilisation was announced, he left Russia for Kazakhstan with his mother. The police put him on a wanted list. Officers from his college visited his girlfriend’s house. The officer’s mother returned to Russia. She and her ex-husband, the officer’s father, were interrogated. At the end of March 2023, the officer was detained at an airport in Kazakhstan while trying to fly to Yerevan. He was later released.

 

Part 4, Article 337 of the Criminal Code: Abandonment of a military unit for more than a month

Ufa

Marsel Kandarov, a contract soldier, 25. He spent a month in Ukraine at the beginning of the war. After being returned to Russian territory for rehabilitation, he, as claimed by the Telegram channel of the Movement of conscientious objectors, «decided that he could not and would not take people’s lives.» Kandarov submitted a resignation report but the authorities delayed the decision. He went home but was later taken into custody. On the 11th of January, 2023, Kandarov was sentenced to five years in a general regime penal colony. Initially, he was charged with desertion for more than a month during wartime (Part 5 of Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) but later the court of appeal reclassified one episode as Part 4 of the same article and another episode as Part 2.1 of the same article (desertion for a period of up to 10 days during wartime) and changed the sentence to three years in a penal colony settlement.

Pskov

Unidentified person, welder, contracted paratrooper.

For more details, see the section concerning Part 3, Article 337 of the Criminal Code.

Part 5, Article 337 of the Criminal Code: Leaving a military unit for more than a month during wartime

Unauthorised abandonment of a military unit or place of service, as well as failure to appear on time without good reason for service for more than one month, committed by a serviceman carrying out military service by conscription or under a contract, during the period of mobilisation or martial law, in wartime or under conditions of armed conflict or hostilities. Possible punishment is five to ten years in prison. Included in the Criminal Code in September 2022.

St. Petersburg

Sergei Spiridonov, зrivate.

For more details, see the section on Part 2.1, Article 337 of the Criminal Code.

 

Desertion (Article 338 of the Criminal Code)

Desertion, i.e. the unauthorized exit from a unit or place of service in order to evade military service, as well as failure to appear for service for the same purposes. Possible punishment is up to 15 years of imprisonment, depending on the part of the article.

Novosibirsk

Mikhail Zhilin, major in the Federal Protective Service (FSO), 36.

He crossed the border into Kazakhstan after mobilization was announced and sought asylum. In a video message, he said that he refused to kill Ukrainian citizens. Zhilin was also prosecuted for illegal border crossing (Article 322 of the Criminal Code). In Kazakhstan, a case on crossing the border illegally was also opened against him. On December 2nd, he received a six-month suspended sentence and was deported from the country. Zhilin tried to fly to Armenia, but was detained at the airport. He was taken in custody. On December 30, 2022, Zhilin was deported to Russia. On March 24, 2023, he was sentenced to six and a half years in a strict regime penal colony.

Vladimir Konstantinov, 25.

He worked as a loader at an ice cream factory. In the autumn of 2022, he was called up during partial military mobilisation. The night before being sent to the war zone, he fled from the training camp, after which he lived at home with his mother. In January 2023, after an investigator called him, Konstantinov came to the investigative department and fully admitted his guilt, saying that «it is better to go to prison than to the front.» On May 23, 2023, the court sentenced him to a five-year term in a general regime colony.

Cases in the annexed Crimea

Simferopol

Denis Narolsky, a contract soldier.

According to the press release published on the court website, he voluntarily left the military unit after the outbreak of the war and resided on the territory of Crimea. «At the court hearing, the defendant pleaded guilty to the crime and motivated his actions by saying that he did not want to participate in the special military operation and do military service, » the court’s press service says. On March 30, 2023, Denis Narolsky was sentenced to nine years in a strict regime penal colony.

There are more than 2,900 known criminal cases that were opened after the beginning of the war under articles on failure to comply with orders, abandonment of a military unit, desertion, however we do not mention most of them in this guide as we have no confirmation that those prosecuted directly declared their reluctance to participate in military actions on the territory of Ukraine, spoke of their anti-war views or dissent with the war.

 

Illegal crossing of the state border (Article 322 of the Criminal Code)

Illegal crossing of the state border. Crossing the state border of the Russian Federation without valid documents for the right of entry into and exit from the Russian Federation or without a permit obtained in the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Potential punishment: up to six years depending on the part of the article applied.

Kaliningrad

Yury Yatsentyuk

After receiving conscription papers, he tried to cross the border into Poland: being of Ukrainian descent, he did not wish to wage war against his own. He was detained and a criminal case was initiated. Yatsentyuk was under house arrest and was fired from his job. On February 8th, 2023, he was sentenced to half a year of compulsory labor at a state-run work site.

Novosibirsk

Michail Zhilin, major in the Federal Protective Service (FSO).

For more details see section on Article 338 of the Criminal Code.

 

Disclosing state secrets (Article 283 of the Criminal Code)

Disclosing information related to state secrets by a person trusted with this information or that learned it over the course of performing service, work, studies or other contexts to which the laws of the Russian Federation are applicable, if other people gained access to this information. Punishable with up to 4 years in prison.

Orenburg

Dmitry Domovetskih, defense design engineer.

He was subject to a search on March 18th, 2022. Prior to that, his employer expressed discontent with the antiwar posts that Domovetskih published on social media and demanded them to be deleted as per the order of a major. Domovetskih has fled Russia.

 

State treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code)

State treason. Punishable with up to 20 years in prison.

Vladivostok

Dmitry Kulikov, 57.

According to investigators, he delivered a photo of a thermal power plant to Ukrainian intelligence teams. His relative stated that Kulikov opposes the current government and the war in Ukraine.

Moscow

Tamara Parshina, resident of Khabarovsk, computer programmer, 23.

On March 13, 2023, she was detained, and then sent to Moscow, where she was remanded in custody. The investigation suggests that the woman transferred money with the intention of purchasing weapons, ammunition, and uniforms for Ukrainian troops. It was reported that she was a member of the movement in support of Sergei Furgal, the former governor of the Khabarovsk region. However, the «Furgal Headquarters» Telegram channel noted that «none of the movement’s activists'' had identified her. Lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov told the Sever.Realii media project that the persecuted woman had transferred 2,500 rubles in small amounts to several Ukrainian charity foundations.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, politician, 42.

For more details, see the section on Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code.

Abakan

Igor Pokusin, leader of the social movement «HowLong?! (Dokole)», 61. The movement represents residents of Khakassia who have experienced police abuse.

The case on attempted treason (Part 1, Article 275 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3, Article 30 of the Criminal Code) was initiated in December 2022 after a sentence in the case on vandalism (Part 1, Article 214 of the Criminal Code, see above). According to the investigation, he planned to move to Astana to later get to Ukraine through Moldavia and join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. An anonymous witness is present in the case who claims that Pokusin planned to get to a foreign Ukrainian consulate and ask to transport him into the country. Pokusin’s wife told the Current Time TV channel that he planned to get to Astana ‘to look around, understand if it would be possible to move there’. According to her, ‘ his hip joints, knee joints have been replaced, there is a metal construction in his ankle. He is a ‘tin soldier’. A stent has been installed in his heart after a surgery’. According to his lawyer, the case on treason is based on materials from the vandalism case, testimonies against Pokusin were given by the same people that had testified against him in the previous case. The court is already considering the merits of the case.

Vladikavkaz

Saveliy Frolov, resident of Naro-Fominsk (Moscow region), extreme sports instructor, 21.

He was detained at the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgia border on October 30th, 2022. The border officials searched his phone and found subscriptions to anti-war Youtube and Telegram channels, anti-war statements in his private messages and messages about the Freedom for Russia Legion. The next day, Frolov was charged with disorderly conduct (Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code) and placed under administrative arrest for 15 days. On November 14th, he was placed under another 15-day arrest for disobeying the lawful orders of border officials (Article 18.7 of the Administrative Code) for, allegedly, using his smartphone at the checkpoint. On November 30th, he was placed under 15-day arrest for the 3rd time, charged with disorderly conduct for, supposedly, using profanities in public. On December 2nd, an investigation was initiated against Frolov for preparing high treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code, applying Art. 30.1), accusing him of defecting to the enemy. According to investigators, Frolov was planning to travel through Georgia to Istanbul, Turkey, then to Poland and, finally, to Ukraine, where he would join the Freedom for Russia Legion. However, Frolov had neither a Schengen visa nor a plane ticket to Turkey. Frolov’s partner told Russian independent media «Mediazona» that they were planning to live together in Georgia while Evgeny Smirnov, Frolov’s lawyer, said that his client had been sending messages about the Legion before the law equating defection to the enemy’s side with high treason entered into force. Frolov was taken into custody. In May 2023, it was reported that Frolov had pleaded guilty. On October 25, 2023, Frolov was sentenced to six years in a strict regime penal colony.

Petrozavodsk

Andrey Vasyurenko, student, 18.

Advocator for the independence of Karelia, a northwestern republic in Russia. According to the investigation, he was trying to prevent Russia from achieving its goals in its war in Ukraine by persuading fellow Russians to defect to the enemy’s side. Vasyurenko is suspected of preparing to instigate an act of high treason by means of defecting to the enemy’s side (under Article 275 with Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 4 of Article 33 of the Criminal Code).

Cherepovets

Alexey Ivanov, 28. In August 2022, he conducted a solitary demonstration against the war, after which he was detained and threatened with a criminal prosecution. Later, he was issued a protocol under an administrative article on discrediting the Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) due to his anti-war publications on VKontakte. On November 25, Ivanov was fined 30,000 rubles. Ivanov suspects that the state treason case was initiated against him because of his publications on methods of providing financial assistance to Ukraine through cryptocurrency. On August 9, 2023, searches were conducted at Ivanov’s relatives' homes in Cherepovets, Totma and the village of Ankimarovo in the Sheksna District of the Vologda Region. They confiscated all of their gadgets without issuing seizure protocols. Ivanov’s relatives were interrogated for about six hours. On the same day, Ivanov was declared wanted. In October 2023, Ivanov was also charged with public justification of terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code, see above).

Novosibirsk

Ilya Baburin, 23.

For details, see the section on Part 4, Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code.

Voronezh

Alexander Dimitrenko, 30.

For further details, see the section on Part 1 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code.

Samara

Polina Yevtushenko, resident of Tolyatti, 24.

For further details, see the section on Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code.

 

Confidential cooperation with a foreign state or organization (Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code)

The establishment and maintenance by a Russian citizen of cooperative relations with a representative of a foreign state, international or foreign organization on a confidential basis with a view to assisting them in activities knowingly directed against the security of the Russian Federation. Potential punishment: up to eight years' imprisonment.

Moscow

Daniil Krinari, St. Petersburg activist.

On December 21st, 2022, he was detained in the Belarusian city of Grodno; it was announced that he was being prosecuted for treason in connection with cooperation with Ukraine. Krinari was taken to Moscow, where he was placed in custody.

Previously, Krinari was detained in a case regarding the false reporting of a terrorist act (Article 207 of the Criminal Code, see above).

Robert Shonov, ex-supply manager of the US Consulate General in Vladivostok, 62.

After the Consulate’s closure, where Shonov had worked for 25 years, he continued his cooperation with the US Embassy: he was preparing news reports from the Russian press. Shonov was arrested in Vladivostok and then transported to Moscow. Investigators believe that Shonov «was not supporting the „special military operation“ that Russian Armed Forces are undertaking on the territory of Ukraine and has established, by the means of correspondence, confidential cooperation relationships with the representatives of foreign state (United States of America), with the purpose to facilitate their activity deliberately aimed against the security of the Russian Federation». Two secretaries at the US embassy in Moscow, David Bernstein and Jeffrey Silin, have been summoned for questioning in the Shonov case. Law enforcement officials describe them as «employees of the political section of the embassy», from which Shonov allegedly received orders.

 

Failure to notify of a foreign citizenship (Article 330.2 of the Criminal Code)

Failure to fulfill the obligation to submit notification of the citizenship of a foreign state by a citizen of the Russian Federation, or a residence permit or other valid document confirming the right to permanent residence in a foreign state. Punishable with up to 200 thousand ruble or 400 hours of compulsory labor.

Moscow

Leonid Gozman, public activist and publicist, 72.

He actively spoke out against the war. On July 15th, 2022, it became known that, already in April, a case had been launched against Gozman concerning the alleged failure to report his reception of Israeli citizenship in 2018. The politician was detained and interrogated but later released. On August 30th Gozman was arrested for 15 days under the article on equating actions of the USSR to those of the Nazi Germany (Part 1, Article 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offences) for a Facebook post. On September 13th he was arrested after leaving the detention centre for the same term under the same article (repeated offence) for a 2013 post. Gozman left Russia after the end of the second administrative offence.

Marina Egorova, psychologist, wife of Leonid Gozman.

On July 29th, 2022, it became known that she is also involved in a case concerning the alleged failure to report receiving Israel citizenship in 2018.

 

This page is constantly updated with new information.