A court in the Moscow region has closed the case on military “fake news” that had been brought against Nikolai Markin, a member of the Yabloko party.

The Ramenskoye City Court has closed the criminal case against former chair of the local Yabloko branch and environmental activist Nikolai Markin, who was accused of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). RusNews reports.

Markin admitted guilt and asked for his case to be heard under a special procedure—without examination of evidence. The case was closed due to the statute of limitations expiring.

In court, the activist said that he now fully supports the state’s policy, including the “special military operation,” and that he takes part in United Russia’s events.

The case was initiated because of posts on VKontakte from March 2022, which spoke about events in Mariupol.

According to RusNews, Markin had previously said that he incriminated himself on his lawyer’s advice in order to avoid arrest. The activist stated that he did not publish the posts that he was accused of. He also said that the testimony against him was given by an animal rights activist he knew through social media.

• Markin was detained on 10 March. The criminal case was initially opened under a more serious article on military “fake news” motivated by hatred (Para. “d,” Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). After several hours of questioning, Markin was released under a travel ban.
• In 2017, Markin attempted to stand as a Communist Party (CPRF) candidate for the council of deputies in Moscow’s Sokol district, and in 2019 for the council of deputies in Ramenskoye urban district, a city near Moscow. Since the 2010s, he has campaigned against logging in Ramenskoye. The most recent campaign he took part in was to protect the Boulogne Forest.