The security forces have brought charges and announced the completion of the investigation into the case of the former coordinator of the Chelyabinsk "Voice" Natalia Guseva. She is charged with discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) due to a repost on Odnoklassniki. This was reported by the woman's lawyer from OVD-Info, Anastasia Stepanova.
The woman was given a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the city.
According to the investigation, Guseva reposted a video titled "That's right! I have no right... I'm not a Nazi!", the meaning of which "indicates categorical disagreement" with Putin's policies and the actions of the Russian Armed Forces. Guseva accompanied the video with a comment in which she agreed with the author's words. "Putin must immediately withdraw his troops from Ukraine, stop killing the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian statehood, and also kill his own people and endanger the very statehood of Russia!" the defendant in the case added.
The case against Natalia Guseva became known on July 10, when her home was searched. This is already the second case against the woman. Earlier, in February, she was sentenced to a fine of 700 thousand rubles in the case of military "fakes" (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case was opened in June 2023 due to posts on Odnoklassniki, as well as a comment about Russian troops committing "crimes against the civilian population on the territory of Ukraine, including the shelling of the drama theater in Mariupol on March 16, 2022."
In May 2023, a court in Zlatoust fined a woman 30,000 rubles under an administrative article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) due to two anti-war posts on the same social network. The publications on Guseva's page talked about the need to stop the war and withdraw troops from the occupied territories, as well as about 59 children who were held in the basement of the village of Yagodnoye by Russian soldiers.
- 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 .
- After the war in Ukraine began, the Russian authorities began to react sharply to protest sentiments. The list of articles under which those speaking out against the war are prosecuted is quite broad. The defendants in “anti-war cases” are often charged with hooliganism, vandalism, violence against government officials, and other violations. Articles introduced into the Criminal Code after the start of military operations also became a significant element of pressure: the dissemination of “fakes” about the Russian army and discrediting the armed forces.
- 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.