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On 12 August, the Oryol Regional Court sentenced streamer Vera Egorenkova to two years of compulsory labour, with 10 per cent of her earnings withheld in favour of the state. This was reported to OVD-Info by the court’s press service.

Egorenkova was tried under the article on desecration of symbols of military glory (Part 4 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). The case arose after, during a livestream, the blogger spat at an image of the ‘Motherland Calls’ monument.

According to the investigation, the woman “publicly desecrated a symbol of Russia’s military glory—an image of the ‘Motherland Calls! ’ statue, which is recognised as a culturally significant object of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation.”

As the Oryol regional court explained to OVD-Info, the woman was initially sentenced to two years of imprisonment. However, after Article 53 of the Criminal Code was applied, the sentence was replaced with compulsory labour.

  • Criminal proceedings against Vera Egorenkova were opened in autumn 2024 on the instructions of Investigative Committee head Aleksandr Bastrykin. A search was conducted at her home, during which electronic devices were seized. During the investigation, Egorenkova was subject to restrictions on certain activities.
  • A few days before the blogger was detained, the head of the “Safe Internet League,” Yekaterina Mizulina, published several clips from Egorenkova’s livestreams on her Telegram channel. Mizulina claimed that the woman was being helped by a “moderator from Kyiv” and that on one of the streams, at the request of viewers, she shouted “No to war.” The head of the “Safe Internet League” also said she had sent materials to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asking them to investigate.