A painter with Russian and Ukrainian citizenship is on trial for comments calling for officials to be executed.

The 1st Western District Military Court in St Petersburg is hearing a criminal case on justifying terrorism (part 2, article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) against 43-year-old painter Dmitry Orlov from Cherepovets, a city northwest of Moscow. The case was highlighted by Mediazona.

The criminal case was opened because of comments Orlov posted in the “Not TV” Telegram channel from November to December 2023. The comments have now been deleted. According to the case files read out in court, the man called for all government officials and their relatives to be executed.

“And mass executions of all the scum from 'United Russia', the Federation Council, the State Duma, ministers, all television workers, deputies from all parties, mistresses, grandchildren—everyone, like enemies of the people, wiped out completely! All palaces, villas, residences—to go to orphanages, hospitals, sanatoriums. Everything stolen—into the treasury! All car fleets—to be used for the city’s needs, for buying fire engines, ambulances, snowploughs, for helping agriculture, for developing villages,” Orlov wrote.

“I’m from Russia too. I wish for Putinism to fall in disgrace, suffer the greatest losses in history, be disarmed and brought to its knees, and then for everyone who’s left to be shown, 24/7, 365 days a year, on every channel, all the crimes of Putinism every day. Execute everyone involved, and also show this to the ‘vatniks’ so the desire to attack anyone disappears for about 150 years,” the man expressed in another comment.

As a preventive measure, Orlov was remanded in custody. He is currently in Vologda remand prison No. 2. He is attending court via video link from the Vologda Region Garrison Military Court.

Orlov has pleaded guilty. In court, his statements given at the investigation stage were read aloud. In them, the man said that he initially reacted negatively to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where his 75-year-old mother lives. According to him, he previously did not support Russian policy, but has since changed his views.

Responding to the lawyer’s questions, Orlov explained that he wrote the comments while grieving over the death of his grandmother, who was killed by shelling in 2023. He added that he had been misled by Telegram channels. He realised they publish unverified information and that he should unsubscribe from them. He clarified that he now has a negative attitude towards the policy of the Ukrainian authorities, whom he accused of “disrupting” “Putin’s attempts to end the conflict peacefully.”

Dmitry Orlov was born in the Ukrainian village of Prystin in the Kharkiv region and lived in Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine. In the 1990s and 2000s, he taught himself painting and worked in church restoration. In his statements, Orlov said he had worked at the Pochayiv Monastery in the Ternopil region. In 2008, he worked as an industrial climber in Belgorod region, but sustained an injury two years later and returned to Kherson region.

In 2014, he moved to Cherepovets, where he again worked as a painter. There, he took part in exhibitions and tried to sell paintings on online platforms. According to Mediazona, on one artists’ website, he wrote that he would like to achieve global success but was forced to work as an industrial climber.

In 2021, Orlov received a Russian passport without giving up his Ukrainian citizenship. His wife testified that the couple left Ukraine because of their “negative attitude towards the events in the country.”

Orlov’s lawyer said he has health problems. In the past, he suffered a spinal injury and a spinal concussion. In 2010, a titanium structure was implanted into Orlov’s spine, which means he cannot stand or sit for long periods.