Tomsk resident Vyacheslav Polkanov was sent into custody as part of a criminal case about repeated discrediting of the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Kirovsky District of Tomsk. The news was brought to the attention of the SOVA Research Center.
According to investigators, during February 2023, the man posted “discrediting information posts about the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” on his page on one of the social networks. It is not specified which publications we are talking about. Officers from the FSB and the Center for Combating Extremism took part in the arrest of Polkanov.
In its press release, the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not write the name of the arrested person, but SOVA noted that most likely we are talking about Polkanov. In July 2022, he was prosecuted under an administrative article about discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). The police write that a man sent to a pre-trial detention center was given a fine of 35 thousand rubles under this article because of an anti-war single picket held in July.
A criminal case for repeated discrediting of the army can be initiated if a person was previously prosecuted under a similar administrative article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences.
- 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 700 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
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Article 280.3 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - in this way the government 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. On March 14, 2023, the State Duma adopted amendments increasing the maximum penalty under this article, since then it has been seven years in prison.