A woman from Novokuznetsk, a major city in Siberia, has been sentenced to five years in prison in a case concerning “military ‘fakes.’”

On 13 August, Ariна Ivanova, a resident of Novokuznetsk, a major city in Siberia, was sentenced to five years in a general regime penal colony in a case concerning “military ‘fakes’” (section “d” part 2 article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). OVD-Info was informed of this by the Kuybyshevsky District Court.

The woman was also banned from administering websites on the internet for two years.

In October and November 2023, Ivanova was fined under the article on displaying prohibited symbols (part 1 article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The first time, the reason was posts on VKontakte featuring the “StopRussianfascism” video and “images of human figures arranged in a way that formed a Nazi swastika.” She was fined 1,500 roubles (approx. US$16) for this. Ivanova received a second fine of the same amount because of a message with a “Ukrainian nationalist slogan” in Telegram. In that same November, she was given a fine of 30,000 roubles (approx. US$330) under the administrative article on “discrediting the army” (part 1 article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was for several VKontakte posts, including ones with the phrase: “No to war.”