The first known report on the search for extremist materials has been filed in Sverdlovsk Oblast, a region in the Urals.

An administrative case has been opened against a young man who, while travelling on public transport, came across information online about the Azov Regiment and the RDK. This was reported by the Telegram channel It’s My City.

The information was passed to the FSB by a mobile network operator.

The case is being considered in Kamensk-Uralsky, a city in the Urals. For now, the case has been sent back to the police to correct inaccuracies. The lawyer called the materials “very raw,” as they contained only two “pictures” and the explanations of the defendant, in which there was neither direct nor indirect intent reflected.

“The use of Article 13.53 of the Code of Administrative Offences—on ‘searching for extremist materials’—shows that Russia has already begun to punish not actions, but curiosity itself. At the level of human rights, this is a step towards criminalising inquisitiveness and restricting the right to access information, which is guaranteed in the Constitution and international treaties,” commented lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina, who cooperates with OVD-Info.