A resident of Volgograd region has been given a suspended sentence under the article on repeated “discrediting” of the army.

The Volzhsky City Court in Volgograd region has given Dmitry Vanifatyev a two-year suspended sentence under the article on repeated “discrediting” of the army (Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). OVD-Info was informed of this by the court’s press service.

Vanifatyev was also given a two-year probation period and a three-year ban on administering websites, channels, forums, groups, and chats.

The court’s press service did not disclose the substance of the charges. In January 2024, Vanifatyev was fined under a similar administrative article (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The cause was a comment he left in the “ZHEST Volzhsky” community on VKontakte. In court, the man explained that he made the post “while in an inadequate state, was drunk, feeling depressed and destructive,” and at that moment thought that “changing the political regime in the state would bring about positive change in the country.” The content of the comment was not revealed in the court ruling.

In October of the same year, the man was fined 30,000 rubles (US$320) under the article for insulting the authorities online (Part 3, Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The protocol was drawn up against him because of posts criticising Vladimir Putin in his Telegram channel “How the Croat <…> Suffers.” The channel had 15 subscribers, and Vanifatyev wrote there about his trips to rock concerts, purchases, and politics.

The court ruling noted that Vanifatyev makes fishing lures by casting.