Moscow State University student was arrested for 12 days because of the Ukrainian slogan

Ukrainian citizen Sergei Gulko was found guilty under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offences.

On April 15, 2024, the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow arrested Ukrainian citizen Sergei Gulko, studying at Moscow State University, for 12 days. He was found guilty under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 of the Administrative Code (public display of prohibited symbols). On April 27, the Moscow City Court approved the arrest.

The reason for bringing him to administrative responsibility was that Gulko posted the slogan “Glory to Ukraine” on his VKontakte page. Thus, according to law enforcement agencies and the court, he promoted Ukrainian nationalist organizations recognized as extremist in Russia. At the trial, Gulko said that he posted the slogan on VKontakte while under stress due to the death of a compatriot during a special operation in Ukraine.

We believe that the slogan “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Heroes” should not be considered solely as a slogan of Ukrainian nationalist organizations banned in Russia: in recent years it has been used everywhere in Ukraine and since 2018 it has been an official greeting in the Ukrainian army and police. We have no reason to believe that by posting it on social networks, Gulko was promoting the activities of banned Ukrainian organizations.

Sources

• The Moscow City Court approved the arrest of a Moscow State University student for a post with a pro-Ukrainian slogan two years ago // SOTAVision. 2024. April 27.
• Administrative violation case file 05-0199/2024 // Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow. 2024. April 15.