Employees of the Investigative Committee in Ulyanovsk conducted a search in the apartment of local resident Polina Piskieva because of leaflets of the “Spring” movement, recognized as an extremist organization. Piskieva herself reported this to OVD-Info.
Investigative actions took place on the morning of October 9 and all equipment was confiscated from the house. Security officials believe that Piskeyeva posted “Vesna” leaflets around Ulyanovsk. During the search, the girl was forced to find clothes that she could have worn while putting up posters.
After the search, Piskieva, as well as her husband and minor child, were taken to the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Zavolzhsky district of Ulyanovsk. There, all three were interrogated and then released.
The girl finds it difficult to say exactly what article she is charged with, but the investigator told her that she is in the status of a suspect in a case of extremism. Perhaps we are talking about participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). The Spring movement was added to the list of extremist organizations in December 2022, while Piskieva is charged with posting leaflets in the summer and fall of 2023.
In August, the Vesna telegram channel published leaflets that unknown people posted around the city. They contain words against “mobilization” and the United Russia party.
- The youth movement “Spring” was founded in 2013 in St. Petersburg, then it appeared in other regions of Russia. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, members of the movement have actively participated in anti-war demonstrations. On May 9, they planned to hold the “They didn’t fight for this” action, joining the “Immortal Regiment” marches.
- In September 2022, Viasna activists announced mass actions against the “partial” mobilization. After this, the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office demanded that “Vesna” be recognized as an extremist organization - in December 2022, the court granted the claim, and in May the decision was approved . In October 2022, Viasna was also added to the register of “foreign agents.”
- Supporters of the “Spring” movement Jan Ksenzhepolsky, Evgeny Zateev, Valentin Khoroshenin, Vasily Neustroev, Pavel Sinelnikov and Anna Arkhipova have been in pretrial detention since June 2023. They are charged with several articles of the criminal code due to a number of posts on Viasna’s social networks.