A court in St. Petersburg extended the arrest of a Discourse correspondent in a criminal case about “fake news” until October 11

The Vyborg District Court of St. Petersburg extended the arrest of Discourse correspondent, poet and documentarian Vsevolod Korolev in a criminal case about “fake news” about the Russian army until October 11. SOTA reports this on its Telegram channel.

The initiation of a criminal case against Korolev became known on July 12. He is accused under the article on “fakes” about the Russian army (clause “e”, part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). According to information from the Network Freedoms project, the case is related to publications on VKontakte about events in Bucha , Borodyanka and Donetsk.

On July 13, the Vyborg District Court sent Korolev to a pre-trial detention center for two months until September 11. During the meeting, the documentarian noted: “My country is sick now, but everything will get better sooner or later.” The man's interests are represented by lawyer Maria Zyryanova.

Before his arrest, Korolev was filming a documentary about the artist Sasha Skochilenko, another figure in the “anti-war cause”, who is accused of distributing “fakes” about the Russian army based on political hatred (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

• Article 207.3 (Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - in this way the authorities responded to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that does not come from official Russian sources. The maximum penalty under this article is 15 years in prison.
• Since February 24—the first day of the “special operation” in Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been going out to anti-war rallies every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 230 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our guide .