A Krasnoyarsk student has been fined for a joke about a “Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier,” Ponasenkov, in a Nazi uniform.

The Sverdlovsky District Court in Krasnoyarsk fined a 19-year-old student from Siberian Federal University 1,500 roubles (approx. US$17) under the article on the display of Nazi and extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by 'Ostorozhno, Novosti' (Caution, News).

The court reviewed six posts on the student’s VKontakte page. Among them was a repost from a meme community: a photo of historian and blogger Yevgeny Ponasenkov in a Nazi uniform with the caption: “A Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier, Yevgeny Ponasenkov, has been captured by the Russian Armed Forces.” This post appeared on the student’s page in April 2022. Another post was an image of a German soldier with the caption “Back to the Reich! The Polish offensive can’t be stopped.” The student published that one in September 2021.

At the hearing, the student expressed remorse.