Eduard Charov

A resident of the village of Savinovo (Sverdlovsk region) and a supporter of the Neo-Pentecostal movement. In April 2023, he was fined 65,000 rubles for anti-war publications and criticism of the authorities: 45,000 rubles under the administrative offense of discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and an additional 20,000 rubles under the article on inciting hatred or hostility (Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

On January 31, 2024, a search was conducted at the homeless and elderly shelter "For Christ’s Sake," founded by Charov. In autumn 2022, the priest had invited “conscripts who fled mobilization” to the shelter. Charov was charged with publicly justifying terrorism, reportedly over a joke about an attempt to set fire to a military recruitment office. A preventive measure banning certain actions was imposed on him.

In June 2024, it became known that Charov was also charged with discrediting the Armed Forces. The cases were merged. The discrediting charge is related to his repost of a shortened video message by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner PMC. In the video, Prigozhin accused the Ministry of Defence of lying and claimed the war in Ukraine was waged only “so a bunch of scoundrels could gain publicity,” and that the Defence Minister was awarded the rank of marshal.