Russia is repressive. August 5-11, 2024.

During the second week of August, Russian security forces opened at least 14 criminal cases, where, according to Avtozak LIVE, there is a political motive. 3 cases were opened for violent actions, and 6 more for words.

The project team recorded 11 criminal cases related to the war in Ukraine.

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This digest was prepared based on the database of our project “If there were no war.”

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August 5, 2024:

• In the city of Azov, Rostov region, two local residents, 17 and 20 years old, were detained . They were accused of attempted terrorist attack. According to security officials, on the night of July 30-31, 2024, young people set fire to a transformer substation on the Bataysk-Azov railway section. During interrogation, the detainees allegedly admitted that they set fire to the substation for 20 thousand rubles, which were transferred to them by an unidentified “curator” into an electronic wallet.
• In the occupied Zaporozhye region, FSB officers detained a local resident, a citizen of the Russian Federation. According to the FSB, the man collected and transmitted information about regional administration officials to the Ukrainian side through the Telegram and Threema messengers. He allegedly “attempted to commit a terrorist act by planting an improvised explosive device.” A criminal case was opened against the man, whose name has not been disclosed, for attempted treason and an act of terrorism, as well as illegal production of explosives.
• In the city of Volzhsky, Volgograd region, at the beginning of August 2024, local 51-year-old resident Alexander Eremin was detained. He was accused of “justifying terrorism.” The reason for criminal prosecution was one comment in the Telegram chat of the “Be or” channel, which Alexander allegedly wrote. It, according to investigators, contained wishes of good luck to the RDK and the Freedom of Russia legion and the hope that “they will reach Moscow.”

August 6, 2024:

• In Khakassia, FSB officers detained a 53-year-old local resident, a social worker at one of the budget institutions. She was accused of promoting terrorism. According to the FSB, the woman, whose name has not been disclosed, was an activist of a certain extremist organization banned in Russia in 2021. On her social network page, she allegedly posted “positive information about the activities of a Ukrainian terrorist structure involved in armed attacks on civilians in the Belgorod region.” It does not say which organization we are talking about. It is clarified that the resident of Khakassia did not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• In the Stavropol Territory, a 23-year-old local resident, Paul L., was detained . A criminal case was opened against him for promoting terrorist activities and calls for extremism. According to security officials, the man encouraged two of his acquaintances to participate in the Russian Freedom Legion. The security forces also discovered his comments in the telegram chat “Freedom of Russia Movement”, where Paul allegedly called for violence against FSB officers.
• In Kazan they came to search the home of a local 63-year-old pensioner, Irina Nikolskaya. Two phones and a computer were confiscated from her. A criminal case was opened against her for repeated “discrediting of the army.” The reason for the criminal prosecution was comments on VKontakte that the pensioner allegedly published between March 28, 2022 and February 7, 2023. According to Nikolskaya herself, the comments contained regrets that thousands of Russian soldiers are dying in the war, the civilian population of Ukraine is suffering, and also spoke about “the sad fate of refugees from Mariupol, with whom we had to communicate and help them adapt to new conditions.”

August 7, 2024:

• In Magadan, a local resident, private security company employee Andrei Petrovsky, was detained . He was accused of justifying terrorism. According to investigators, a man in one of the discussions on the Internet called for violent actions against the top leadership of our country. Petrovsky was taken into custody during the investigation.
• In Izhevsk, a criminal case was opened for repeated “discrediting of the army” against a 42-year-old local resident, his name has not been reported. According to investigators, in 2023 the man posted comments on the social network Vkontakte under posts that were accessible to an unlimited number of people, aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Details of the charges are unknown. The Industrial District Court of Izhevsk chose detention for the defendant in the case as a preventive measure.
• In the Kursk region, as a result of an attack by Ukrainian armed forces, Yevgeny Poddubny, a war correspondent, author of documentaries and special reports of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, was injured. The correspondent was evacuated and taken to the hospital. Based on this fact, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case of attempted murder and obstruction of journalistic activity. According to the statement of the Russian Investigative Committee, “despite the fact that the media representative did not have a weapon with him and did not take part in the hostilities, the armed formations of Ukraine identified him as a legitimate target for striking.” Those involved in the “attempt” on the journalist are being identified.

August 8, 2024:

• A 49-year-old local resident was detained in Orenburg. He was accused of publicly calling for terrorism. According to investigators, the man, whose name has not been disclosed, posted materials in his Telegram channel in support of a terrorist community banned in Russia. Details of the charges are unknown. The Leninsky District Court of Orenburg sent the defendant into custody.
• In St. Petersburg they came to search the house of a 55-year-old local resident, his name has not been released. During the search, security forces seized a tablet and mobile phone. The man was accused of rehabilitating Nazism on the Internet. The reason for initiating the case was a certain post, “the content of which desecrated the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland and humiliated the honor and dignity of veterans of the Great Patriotic War.”

August 9, 2024:

• In the village of Oktyabrskoye, Kursk region, against the background of the invasion of the Ukrainian army into the territory of the region, the FSB detained a 48-year-old local resident. According to security officials, the Kursk resident filmed the consequences of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack and transmitted this video to a representative of the Ukrainian Telegram channel. During interrogation, the man allegedly said that he filmed and sent the video on instructions from Ukraine. For this he was promised money and citizenship of one of the NATO countries. The issue of initiating a criminal case against the man for treason in the form of espionage is being decided.

August 10, 2024:

• In the occupied Luhansk region, a criminal case was opened for participation in the activities of a terrorist community against a local 53-year-old resident, a citizen of Ukraine; the name of the person involved in the case has not been reported. According to Russian security officials, in May 2017, a Ukrainian signed a contract for Ukrainian citizens to perform military service. From May 2017 to the end of May 2018, the man served in the Aidar battalion. The court chose a preventive measure for him in the form of detention.

August 11, 2024:

• In the Sudzha area of ​​the Kursk region, Russian volunteers who came to the Sudzhan district to “help with the evacuation and deliver humanitarian aid” allegedly caught a Ukrainian saboteur - 26-year-old Ukrainian citizen Ruslan Poltoratsky. His further fate is currently unknown.
• In the Markovsky district of the occupied Luhansk region, a local resident, a citizen of Ukraine, was detained right at her workplace in a pharmacy. The woman's name has not been released. A criminal case was opened against the Ukrainian woman for espionage. According to Russian security officials, she provided the SBU with intelligence for launching missile attacks on Lugansk in 2022-2023.