The ex-head of Navalny's headquarters in Kostroma has had his charges increased in the case of disseminating “fake news”

The former coordinator of Navalny's headquarters in Kostroma, Alexander Zykov, has been aggravated in the case of spreading fake news about the Russian army. The Investigative Committee reclassified the case as serious, adding a political motive (part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), now instead of three years in prison, Zykov faces ten, according to Network Freedoms.

Earlier, Zykov was charged with the first part of this article.

The reason for initiating a criminal case was the publication of the ex-head of Navalny's headquarters on VKontakte. In them, he, in particular, spoke about the dead military personnel from the Kostroma regiment of the Airborne Forces, about the tragedy in Bucha and about the anti-war rally in Amsterdam and The Hague.

The indictment in the Zykov case, cited by Network Freedoms, alleges that “the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not use prohibited means and methods of warfare” and that “there is no information about the destruction (complete death) of the 331st Kostroma Guards Airborne Regiment of the Russian Airborne Forces correspond to reality."

Zykov is not currently in Russia. In September, he was put on the wanted list. He does not admit guilt and insists on the authenticity of his publications, Network Freedoms notes. In October, Zykov reported that his mother, who lives in the Kostroma region, had been searched.