A criminal case has been opened against an artist from Novokuznetsk, a major city in Siberia, over a post about a drone strike on the Chernobyl sarcophagus.

A criminal case has been opened against Petr Sirotyuk, an artist from Novokuznetsk, a major city in Siberia, over a post about a drone strike on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sarcophagus. This was reported by the “Kuzbass without Extremism” channel, which is affiliated with Russian law enforcement.

The post was published on VKontakte on 15 February. Sirotyuk is being charged with spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Judging by the potential penalties cited by the “Eshniki” (up to 10 years in prison), this concerns the second, more serious, part of the article. The pre-trial restrictions imposed on the man have not yet been disclosed.

On 19 May, Sirotyuk was fined 30,000 rubles (US$325) under the article on “discrediting” the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) over a “news-type” publication from 25 February. Law enforcement conducted the investigation and review for the administrative case in March, and drew up the protocol against the artist on 11 April.

Petr Sirotyuk is a well-known artist in Novokuznetsk. He paints, takes part in exhibitions, and has also created murals inside public buildings and a chapel. He was born in Odesa, and graduated from the Leningrad Mukhin Higher School of Art and Industry in 1986.