Vladimir Egorov

A criminal case against Egorov was opened in October 2016. The reason for the prosecution was the publication of a photo of Putin on the page of the public group "Citizens of Toropets", of which he was the administrator, accompanied by a text stating that the propaganda managed by the security services is aimed at exonerating the head of state, shifting the blame for all the failures of the government to other officials. The author of the post urged to "not fall for such propaganda tricks" and said that "the main Kremlin rat should be taken down".

In June 2017, due to criminal prosecution and conflict with local authorities in connection with anti-corruption publications in the above-mentioned publick, Egorov left for Ukraine and asked for political asylum there. The activist took this decision after the windows of his house were broken. Ten days after his departure, Egorov's house, where his wife and minor daughter stayed, was set on fire.

In early July, Egorov was denied political asylum; Ukrainian border guards said that because he had illegally crossed the border without a passport, he was banned from entering the country for three years. Yegorov did not challenge the decision to deny asylum and moved to Belarus. In Minsk, he applied to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and human rights organisations. However, at the end of July he was arrested by the Belarusian KGB under the article on petty hooliganism, extradited to Russia and brought to Toropets on 1 August; on 2 August the court arrested him. On 16 November, he was transferred on his personal recognizance.

On 5 June, the Toropets district court of Tver region sentenced Egorov to two years of suspended imprisonment. He was also given a probation period of three years and banned from moderating websites.