A resident of Lobnya was finally charged in the case of discrediting: three posts on VKontakte

Anatoly Roshchin, a 75-year-old resident of Lobny near Moscow, was finally charged in the case of discrediting the Russian army (part 1 of article 280.3 of the Criminal Code): he is charged with three posts on VKontakte. This was announced by a lawyer from OVD-Info Evgenia Grigorieva, who represents the interests of the accused.

According to investigators, Roshchin published three posts in which Russia is called a “fascist” state, and the war is called “aggression.” “Glory to Ukraine and shame to the aggressors,” one of the messages ends.

The case was referred to the prosecutor's office.

On the morning of March 15, the apartment of Roshchin and his wife was searched. They seized computers, phones and other equipment, as well as the flag of Ukraine. After that, the man was taken for interrogation. He is under bail.

The criminal case of part 1 of article 280.3 of the Criminal Code on the repeated discrediting of the Russian army can be initiated against those who were brought to justice at least once under a similar article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses during the year. So, on March 29, 2022, the Lobnensky City Court fined Roshchin 30,000 rubles under this article due to a single picket near the city administration building with a poster “MY COUNTRY YOU ARE FUCKED. UKRAINE FORGIVE ME FOR AGGRESSION. On May 26, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision.

Earlier, Roshchin was also fined 10 thousand rubles under the "rally" article (part 5 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

• Since February 24, 2022, the first day of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, residents of Russian cities have taken to anti-war protests every day and talked about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become a reason for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 500 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated because of the protest against the war with Ukraine. More about this in our guide .
• Article 280.3 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - this is how the government reacted to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that did not come from official Russian sources. The maximum penalty under the article is seven years in prison.