A criminal case was opened against six residents of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in the cities of Surgut and Lyantor for participation in the activities of an extremist community (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code) and financing of extremist activities (Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the publication “Caution, News”.
According to journalists, security forces at night detained six local residents aged from 44 to 72 years, who were holding meetings and collecting membership fees from their comrades for the “Citizens of the USSR” cell. According to investigators, since 2019 they have collected 95 thousand rubles for the rental of premises and the work of the “extremist community.”
Almost all of the detainees are pensioners. 49-year-old Maxim Yunusov was sent under house arrest. 72-year-old Lyudmila Radchenko, 44-year-old Petra Bezhan, 55-year-old Lyubov Bereznyak, 64-year-old Vladimir Vlasov and 71-year-old Nadezhda Nikolaenkova were placed in a pre-trial detention center.
21:20 In February, those involved in the case of an extremist community were included in the register of “extremists and terrorists” of Rosfinmonitoring.
In January, it became known about a criminal case against six followers of the “Citizens of the USSR” movement in Surgut. Their names were not disclosed at that time. According to investigators, they wanted to change the political system in Russia and during 2022 committed “illegal actions and provocations” and also attracted new supporters. It was then reported that three of the detainees were placed under house arrest.
As of January, a case was opened against all the detainees for the activities of an extremist community (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code), and against one of the detainees, whom the investigation calls the organizer of the community, also for inciting hatred (Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code) due to a comment on an unnamed social network. The publication, as stated in the press release of the Investigative Committee, contained a call for violence against security forces.
The text of the news has been changed due to clarification of information about the names of those involved in the criminal case. Information about their inclusion in the Rosfinmonitoring register of “extremists and terrorists” has also been added.
- “Citizens of the USSR” is a movement uniting fighters for the restoration of the rights of citizens of the USSR. Followers of the organization believe that the Union continues to exist, and the Russian Federation is a “trading company.” Some of the participants in “Citizens of the USSR” refuse any ties with Russia as a state, for example, do not sign any documents, and notify local authorities of the need to vacate their posts.
- In August 2022, a court in Samara recognized the Citizens of the USSR movement as an extremist organization. Previously, the list of extremist organizations included the “ People's Council of Citizens of the RSFSR USSR Arkhangelsk Region ” and the “ Union of Slavic Forces of Russia ,” whose followers also denied the fact of the collapse of the USSR.