“Radical views related to disagreement with the current Russian regime”. Celebrated food historian jailed in Moscow over Ukraine war posts

A prominent Russian food historian Pavel Syutkin who once officially represented the country at a world fair has been jailed in Moscow on charges of spreading “fake news about the military” amid the sweeping crackdown on dissent against the war in Ukraine.

Pavel Syutkin, 60, a prominent author and television personality, was ordered into a pre-trial detention centre by Moscow’s Cheremushkinsky District Court on October 9. He is charged under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code, a law enacted shortly after the 2022 full-scale invasion that has effectively criminalised any public expression deviating from the state’s narrative on the conflict.

The charge, with an aggravating “political hatred” note, could see him sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

Syutkin has a public profile as a mainstream cultural figure rather than a political activist. As a respected author on Russian and Soviet cuisine, he represented Russia at the 2015 World Expo in Milan, Italy.

The prosecution’s case centres on posts made to Syutkin’s Telegram channel. According to the human rights group Perviy Otdel (First Department), the key piece of evidence is a post from April 2022 in which he directly addressed reports of atrocities in Ukraine. “Kyiv was bombed—Putin’s war had direct analogues with Hitler’s. Now he has his own Babi Yar. Bucha—more than two hundred executed civilians—women, old people, children,” he wrote.

In its official statement, Russia’s Investigative Committee claimed Syutkin’s publications “contain knowingly false information about the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation against the civilian population of Ukraine”.

To justify his detention, authorities have portrayed him as a radical opponent of the state. According to case materials, Syutkin “adheres to radical political views, related to disagreement with the current political regime in the Russian Federation,” and was acting to “create tension in society”.

Vladislav Holoyants, an FSB operative from Moscow who was questioned as part of the case, testified that Syutkin, in his blogs on Telegram and Livejournal, actively published materials “against the current constitutional order of the Russian Federation, made calls for unification and the carrying out of extremist activities to overthrow it, and also disseminated information expressing clear disrespect for society regarding days of military glory and memorable dates of Russia related to the defense of the Fatherland.”

As examples, Holoyants cited the post about Bucha, a photo of Russian security forces with photoshopped Nazi symbols, a post with a link to a now-deleted Lenta.ru article about the war with the words that “even journalists from the most servile publications are speaking out against Putin’s fascism”, a photo of a dried fish with the slogan “NO TO W*R” and a picture with the text “A terrible morning for Putin today. He woke up, and all the news is saying: ‘Ukraine has won!’ ”

Pavel Syutkin denies the charges.