In Kostroma, the case of the former coordinator of Navalny’s local headquarters about “military fakes” was brought to court

The criminal case of the ex-coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Kostroma, Alexander Zykov, accused of distributing “fakes” about the Russian army based on political hatred (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), was transferred to court. The activist wrote about this on his Facebook.

It is not yet known to which court the case was transferred.

On March 6, Zykov’s charges were made more serious : a political motive was added to the article about the dissemination of “fakes” about the Russian army (clause “d”, part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Previously, he was charged only with the first part of this article, under which he faced a penalty of up to three years in prison. Now this period is increased to 10 years. On March 10, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma arrested Zykov in absentia.

The reason for initiating a criminal case was the activist’s publications on VKontakte: in them, in particular, he talked about dead servicemen from the Kostroma Airborne Regiment, about the tragedy in Bucha and about anti-war rallies in Amsterdam and The Hague. Network Freedoms provides part of the indictment in the Zykov case.

“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do not use prohibited means and methods of warfare, as well as the destruction of civilian infrastructure on the territory of Ukraine, including in the Sumy region and the city of Bucha, Kyiv region,” says the resolution of the Investigative Committee. “The information about the destruction (complete death) of the 331st Guards Parachute Regiment of the Kostroma Airborne Forces of Russia does not correspond to reality.”

Currently, Zykov is outside Russia; in September 2022, he was put on the wanted list. In October, employees of the Investigative Committee came to his mother’s home to serve a summons in a criminal case. At the same time, the summons was issued to the activist’s grandmother, who died ten years ago. In the conversation, the investigator mentioned that he had spoken with the head of the jewelry production where the activist’s mother works, and hinted at her possible dismissal.

In January, it became known that FSB and Center E officers interrogated seven Kostroma residents in the case of Alexander Zykov. He is unfamiliar with some of them and has never met.

• Since February 24, 2022—the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been holding anti-war protests every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 550 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
• 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.
• In 2021, the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Defense of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny were recognized as extremist organizations. After this, many members of the organizations left Russia.