On July 24, the Central District Military Court imposed compulsory medical measures on Tatarstan resident Pavel Stepanov in the case of repeated discrediting of the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) and calls for terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). OVD-Info drew attention to the case file.
Stepanov maintained pages on social networks under the pseudonyms "Sovereign Pavel Aleksandrovich Stepanov" and "The Spirit of Truth of All Rus'!" The reason for initiating a criminal case against the man for discrediting the army was a certain video with discussions about the war in Ukraine.
In August last year, Stepanov was sent to a pretrial detention center. In March 2024, it became known that an examination had found him insane.
As follows from the case file, the hearings on the case took place in Samara.
In September 2022, the Pestrechinsky District Court of Tatarstan fined Stepanov 30,000 rubles under the article on discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3). The protocol was drawn up due to comments on VKontakte criticizing the war, Vladimir Putin, the market economy, as well as xenophobic statements.
- Since February 24, 2022 — the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — residents of Russian cities have been taking part in anti-war protests and talking about the tragedy online every day. Anti-war speeches and statements are becoming grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 950 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protests 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 — this is how 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.