On November 30, the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow received a criminal case regarding the dissemination of military “fakes” against local resident Lyudmila Tolmacheva. Information about this is published on the court's website.
The criminal case against Tolmacheva became known in October 2022; the woman was charged with disseminating deliberately false information about the armed forces of the Russian Federation for hate reasons (clause “e”, part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The Cheryomushkinsky District Court decided to send Tolmacheva to a pre-trial detention center in absentia; the person involved in the case left Russia.
It is unknown what became the reason for the criminal prosecution. On October 5, 2022, Tolmachev was put on the international wanted list.
- 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 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 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.