A pensioner from the Murmansk region was fined for liking videos of “foreign agents” on YouTube. This is probably the first time this has happened.

The Kovdorsky District Court of the Murmansk Region fined Ukrainian citizen and pensioner Vasily Yovdiy 30 thousand rubles in an administrative case about “discrediting” the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for liking a video on YouTube. “Vorstka” drew attention to this.

The resolution states that Yovdiy left “approving comments - reactions in the form of likes” under the videos. The document explains that the authors of two videos are “foreign agents”; one of them talks about the death of the head of the chemical defense troops, General Igor Kirillov, in an explosion in December 2024.

Yovdiy himself did not come to the court hearing, but confirmed that he voluntarily liked the video. His explanation states that he knew that one of the authors of the video was a “Ukrainian propagandist” and that “the Ukrainian special services were behind the murder of Kirillov.”

“Vorstka” writes that this may be the first time that a Russian court has ruled on a fine for likes on YouTube. Likes are visible only to the account owner, but are not displayed to other users, the publication notes.