Eight courts in seven regions received cases of “fakes” about the army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and discrediting the army (Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). OVD-Info found this information on court websites.
The Urzhumsky District Court of the Kirov Region registered a case under the article on the dissemination of “fakes” motivated by hatred (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) against local resident Andrei Etkeev. This case became known in April; the man is accused of reposting news broadcasts and media publications on Odnoklassniki about the crimes of the Russian army, including the killings of civilians in Bucha .
The Shakhty City Court of the Rostov Region received a case under articles about “fakes” motivated by hatred (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and calls for extremism (part 2 of article 280 of the Criminal Code). The court card does not indicate the name of the defendant; it is likely that we are talking about the case against Evgenia Mayboroda. The “fake” case against 71-year-old Maiboroda has been known since March, when it was reported that she was under a ban on certain actions. In addition, in April she was included in the list of “terrorists and extremists” of Rosfinmonitoring, but then it was not known in connection with which article she was charged.
The Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma accepted the case of “fakes” (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) against Natalya Efremova. Its details are not yet known.
Two cases of “fake news” (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) were brought to the courts of Saratov. The Zavodskoy District Court registered a case against Vitaly Trifonov , and the Volzhsky District Court registered a case against Dmitry Lyalyaev . The details of both cases are also unknown. In July, the regional Investigative Committee reported that a case had been opened under this article against a local resident who published on Twitter “deliberately false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces.”
19:25 The Baksan District Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic received a case of discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) against local resident Khusen Gukov. The initiation of a case against a 58-year-old man became known in August.
The Elista City Court registered a similar case against the editor-in-chief of the publication “Modern Kalmykia” Valery Badmaev. The reason for the criminal prosecution of the journalist was the repost on VKontakte of a video with a story by a soldier of the Ukrainian Azov battalion that phosphorus bombs were used against the defenders of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. Previously, the prosecutor's office twice refused to approve the indictment in his case.
The Norilsk City Court accepted for consideration the case of discredit against local resident Vladislav Nikolaev. In the summer of 2022, Nikolaev was detained because of the inscription “Fuck war” and a peace message on the glass of his personal car. A criminal case was opened against the man because of posts and a collage posted “on a social network banned in the Russian Federation,” “containing statements that undermine the dignity, authority and trust in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”
The Berezovsky District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory received the case of local activist Alexander Kapustin: he faced prosecution under a criminal article for discrediting the army due to anti-war comments on social networks. And the Pervorechensky District Court of Vladivostok registered a case against musician Sergei Tokhteev: he is being persecuted because of his tweets.
October 28 The Feodosia District Court of Crimea is considering a case under the article on repeated discredit (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) against Oleg Valeev.
The Liskinsky District Court of the Voronezh Region is holding hearings in the case under the same article against Ruslan Bolgov.
And the Odintsovo City Court of the Moscow Region received a case under the article on military “fakes” based on political enmity (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The name of the accused is unknown.
The news title has been changed due to the emergence of information about the progress of cases to discredit the army. The news has been corrected. We previously reported that Maiboroda was being investigated for discrediting the army, but this turned out to be a mistake. We apologize!
The news has been updated: information about the July press release of the Investigative Committee Office for the Saratov Region has been added.
- 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.
- 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. At the moment, more than 750 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
- 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.