A 61-year-old resident of Vyborg, a city near the Finnish border, was sentenced over a comment saying “Glory to Ukraine” and released.

The Vyborg City Court sentenced 61-year-old Oleg Mamporia to one year in a penal settlement, but released him from the courtroom as he had already served his time. This was reported by his OVD-Info lawyer, Igor Skachko.

The criminal prosecution was triggered by a comment in the chat of the Telegram channel “Vremya Sharikovykh.” According to law enforcement officers, Mamporia wrote: “Glory to Ukraine.” The authorities linked this slogan to the “Freedom of Russia” Legion, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the Russian authorities. Mamporia was charged under the article on repeated demonstration of prohibited insignia or symbols (Part 1, Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code).

Mamporia was detained and placed under house arrest in April 2025. In January, Mamporia was transferred from house arrest to pre-trial detention and has been held in Vyborg’s SIZO-3 remand prison. The court’s decision was based on a report from the penal inspection authority, claiming that he had left comments online despite this being prohibited under the conditions of his house arrest.

• In 2024, Mamporia was arrested for 10 days under an administrative article concerning the demonstration of prohibited symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). On that occasion, the protocol was drawn up over a VKontakte post featuring the same slogan. In that post, he talked about his Ukrainian roots and shared his impressions from trips to Kyiv and Odesa.
• Additionally, he was fined under the article on “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for remarks made during an argument with a neighbour’s son-in-law who fought in Ukraine. At that time, Mamporia tore the letter Z off the man’s car and accused Russian soldiers of killing civilians. The man, a participant in the war in Ukraine, subsequently reported Mamporia to the authorities.