On February 26, the Second Western District Military Court registered a criminal case under articles about “fakes” about the army (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and justification of terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) against Ryazan resident Vladislav Mokrousov. The case file is available on the website.
A criminal case about “fakes” was opened against Mokrousov in May 2023, at the same time his name appeared on the Rosfinmonitoring list of terrorists and extremists. The press service of the Investigative Committee indicated that he had been charged earlier under the article on justification of terrorism.
The Telegram channel “Operational Reports” published a video of the man’s arrest. The authors of the publication claim that a young man born in 1996 “was inspired by the death of war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky and the drone attack on the Kremlin” and “ began to make up fake stories about the Russian army .”
In the fall, it became known that Mokrokusov had been banned from certain actions.
- 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 850 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.