Detentions, trials and pressure over anti-war statements and criticism of the war in Ukraine: Human rights news, court updates & analysis | 152 related articles

02.04.2025

11:42

The Oktyabrsky District Court in Irkutsk has fined the deputy general director of the Irkutsk Electric Grid Company, Aleksei Drobashenko, 30,000 roubles (approx. US$330) under the administrative article on “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by Kommersant.

The decision was issued on 1 April. Drobashenko called the ruling unfair and plans to appeal.

Kommersant writes that previously, activists from the pro-government organisation “NOD Baikal” submitted a report to the authorities about Drobashenko. They asked the prosecutor’s office to investigate him over a post in the “On Duty in Siberia” Telegram channel on 6 January 2025. The activists believe Drobashenko is an administrator of that channel.

In their complaint, the activists wrote that in the January post “the author calls the special military operation ‘tragic February,’ ‘massive madness,’ and describes the Russian army itself as ‘parade-ready.’”

The description of the “On Duty in Siberia” Telegram channel now states that it is run by several people. In the past, some posts were published in the first person. After the court’s decision to impose a fine, a statement appeared on the channel on behalf of Drobashenko, saying that all posts on the channel not signed with his name “are not my own authored publications.”

Drobashenko is known as a PR specialist. He helps Russian military personnel involved in the invasion of Ukraine, makes films about them, and has raised funds for them. One of the participants in the war came to the court yesterday to support him.

01.04.2025

13:18

Saint Petersburg

The Nevsky District Court of St Petersburg fined Bishop Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko of the Apostolic Orthodox Church 30,000 rubles (approx. US$320) under a charge of “discrediting the army” (part 1, article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code), according to Mediazona.

The reason for the charge was a video posted on the priest’s Telegram channel on 11 March 2022, in which he discusses the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

The court also viewed the video: “I am endlessly grateful that we are discussing this recording now. Perhaps it was one of my most important speeches or messages. The understanding people had back then, three years ago, is very different today. Today, we have hope as we hear talk of a peace deal, but at that time, nothing was clear,” Mikhnov-Vaitenko said during the hearing.

He did not admit guilt over discrediting the army, but added that he would continue to discredit the idea of resolving conflicts by force.

“What I would like to discredit, and will continue to do so, is the very idea of solving inter-state problems through force. I consistently oppose any kind of fighting. This is a consistent position, based on the saying—please excuse yet another quote—‘blessed are the peacemakers,’” said Mikhnov-Vaitenko (quoted by RusNews).

His lawyer, Andrey Chertkov, argued that the case materials distorted the essence of the priest’s statements. In the video, he was addressing parishioners with an interpretation of the parable of the herd of swine possessed by demons. According to the lawyer, in the charge sheet the police officer “took a series of phrases from different parts of his address” and “created the appearance of a statement by misquoting and taking words out of context.” “The police inspector expressed a subjective opinion in the report,” the lawyer concluded.

He also noted that the statute of limitations for this case had expired.

Priest Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko holds anti-war views. After the start of the Russian invasion, he began helping Ukrainian refugees.

27.03.2025

16:13

The Prikubansky District Court in Krasnodar heard administrative cases against blogger Vladimir Vanyan, who was detained following posts in Z-channels. This was reported by the press service of the Krasnodar Krai courts.

For ‘discrediting the army’ (Article 20.3.3, Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences), Vanyan was fined 100,000 rubles (approx. US$1,100), and for ‘insulting authorities’ (Article 20.1, Part 3), he received a 50,000 rubles fine (approx. US$550). Yesterday, he was also arrested for 13 days under a protocol for disobeying the police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Vanyan was detained after pro-government blogger Vladislav Pozdnyakov posted five short excerpts from the blogger’s YouTube livestream. In the video, the man said: “Karabakh is Armenia, and Krasnodar is Armenia.” Responding to a comment that the FSB “will be waiting for you on the street” for such words, Vanyan replied: “Fuck off, the FSB can suck my dick, we’re waiting, your FSB is a prick.” When asked about his attitude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the blogger said: “What kind of fucking special military operation? I don’t give a fuck either. Look, we’re grilling fucking kebabs, drinking cognac and whisky.”

Pozdnyakov also posted a video of Vanyan’s detention. FSB officers stopped the blogger on the road, pulled him out of the car, forced him face-down on the ground, and put handcuffs on him. The man identified himself and answered questions from the officers, after which he was dragged into a minibus. According to Vanyan, he felt unwell at the time of the detention.

After being detained, Vanyan recorded a video apologising, in which he said he “sincerely asked forgiveness” from the FSB officers and Russian soldiers involved in the invasion of Ukraine. “I am ready to defend Russia with arms in hand <…> I love Russia, I am ready to serve Russia. That’s why I shaved off my beard, tidied myself up—we’ll serve with arms in hand in the special military operation,” the detainee said.

14:40

Russia

The TV channel Dom Kino, which is owned by Tricolor, blurred out a photograph of Alla Pugacheva in the film “The Icebreaker.” This was pointed out by a viewer of Oleg Kashin’s YouTube channel and by “Agentstvo”.

The film was broadcast in this form on the channel overnight into Wednesday, 26 March.

The film “The Icebreaker,” released in 2016, tells the story of the icebreaker “Mikhail Somov,” which became trapped in the Antarctic ice and drifted for 133 days. Pugacheva appears on a calendar, which one of the characters approaches to cross off the date.

Alla Pugacheva condemned the war in Ukraine and left Russia. Because of her anti-war stance, pro-government media regularly criticise the singer, and NTV has released five “hit pieces” on Pugacheva since the start of March, reports Agentstvo.

14:37

The “Yandex.Music” platform has removed several tracks from Noize MC’s new album “Not All at Home” at the request of Roskomnadzor. This was reported by RBC and SOTA.

The tracks “Not All at Home,” “Cryochambers,” “Land of Rain,” and “Cooperative ‘Swan Lake’” have disappeared from the streaming service.

“Yandex.Music has received an official order from Roskomnadzor to restrict access to a number of tracks by Noize MC. According to the law ‘On Information, Information Technologies, and Information Protection,’ Yandex.Music is obliged to comply with such demands within 24 hours,” the service’s press office told RBC.

Noize MC released his tenth studio album, “Not All at Home,” on 14 March. This is the artist’s first album since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “This album is about all Russias at once—the abandoned and the vanished, the inner and the incurable, the rejecting and the rejected,” the musician said in an interview with Meduza.

28 March The “Roskomsvoboda” project noted that songs by Noize MC had appeared in the register of banned websites. The links in the register lead to various music services.

The project clarifies that these are the same tracks that were previously removed from Yandex.Music at Roskomnadzor’s request. The agency specified that they demanded their removal “for spreading false socially significant information.”

09:54

Irkutsk Oblast

The Ust-Kut City Court has fined local resident Kseniya Kuznetsova 15,000 rubles (about US$165) for criticising a banner featuring a soldier who died in the war in Ukraine. This was reported by the 7×7 news outlet, which drew attention to the court’s published decision.

The ruling was delivered on 6 March. Kuznetsova was found guilty of discrediting the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). She also admitted her guilt.

Although the minimum fine for discrediting the army is 30,000 rubles (about US$330), the judge imposed a lower amount on Kuznetsova, as she is raising three young children alone and also has a disability.

In November 2024, Kuznetsova posted a video on VKontakte showing the banner with the words “Glory to Russian heroes” along with a photo of the deceased soldier, and criticised it. She said she did not understand the need for “glory, which I couldn’t care less about in the grave.”

“A rich, healthy, strong, sturdy man up until his very death, influential, powerful—that, damn it, is glory in my personal, subjective view,” she added.

Law enforcement took notice of the video after it was shared on pro-government Telegram channels, including by Irkutsk-based blogger Ilya Filippenko. (Irkutsk is a major city in Siberia.)

After Kuznetsova was detained, the Interior Ministry for Irkutsk Oblast released a video of her apologising to the regiment in which the deceased soldier had served, as well as to the people of Russia.

26.03.2025

15:07

Krasnodar Krai

The Leninsky District Court in Krasnodar has sentenced blogger and powerlifter Vladimir Vanyan to 13 days’ detention on charges of disobeying the police (Article 19.3 of the Administrative Offences Code) after he faced pressure in pro-war Z-channels. This was reported by the court’s press service.

As Mediazona reports, on 24 March, five short clips from Vanyan’s stream were posted by a pro-government nationalist blogger, Vladislav Pozdnyakov.

In the videos, the man says: “Karabakh is Armenia, and Krasnodar is Armenia.” Responding to a comment warning that the FSB would be waiting for him in the street for saying such things, Vanyan replied: “Fuck off, the FSB can suck my dick, we’re waiting, your FSB is a cunt.” When asked his position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the blogger said: “What fucking special military operation? I don’t give a fuck. Here we are, fucking about, barbecue, cognac, whisky.”

Vanyan’s YouTube channel, “Zolotoy 123,” is now hidden and the stream footage is no longer available. The blogger had nearly 10,000 subscribers.

Today, Pozdnyakov published video of Vanyan’s detention. FSB officers stopped the blogger on the road, pulled him out of the car, forced him face down on the ground, and handcuffed him. The man gave his name and answered questions from the security services, after which he was dragged into a minibus. According to Vanyan, he felt unwell at the time of his detention.

After his detention, Vanyan recorded an apology video in which he “sincerely apologised” to FSB officers and Russian soldiers involved in the invasion of Ukraine. He said: “Ready to defend Russia with arms in hand <…> I love Russia, ready to serve Russia. So they’ve shaved my beard, tidied me up—we’ll serve with arms in hand in the special operation.”

Vanyan has been charged with disobeying the police. According to the court’s press service, during his detention, the man refused to show his passport to the officers, began shouting, and tried to escape. In addition, he has been charged with insulting government authorities (part 3, article 20.1 of the Administrative Offences Code) and “discrediting” the army (article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). The court has not yet considered these charges.

11:40

Sverdlovsk Oblast

An employee of the Ministry of Education and Youth Policy of Sverdlovsk Region was detained in Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, when he held a solo protest against the “Truba” monument, which commemorates the deployment of Russian troops to Sudzha (Kursk Region). This was reported by Ura.ru.

The placard had “a message of condemnation regarding the installation,” an eyewitness to the protest told the outlet.

The young person was charged with discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). According to Ura.ru, they are being held in a detention facility. The protester’s phone was confiscated.

14:20 The detainee’s name is Roman Gilmanov, reports “7×7—Horizontal Russia.”

A protocol was also drawn up for disobeying the police (Article 19.3 of the Administrative Code), for which he was sentenced to 15 days in jail. This was reported by the press service of the Kirov District Court of Yekaterinburg.

23.03.2025

10:24

Other

Information about politically motivated persecution was posted here. The person featured in the story asked us to remove their story for security reasons. As a human rights project, we cannot ignore such requests, so we are deleting the news text.

11.03.2025

21:54

In Simferopol, a local resident, Zlata Sazonova, was detained after being threatened by passers-by for singing songs in Ukrainian. She herself told OVD-Info about the incident.

According to her, she was on Pushkin Street, performing love songs in Ukrainian. Nearby was a group of about 15 young people who began to react aggressively to the music. Sazonova’s friend was with her, and the young people began to attack him. One of them threatened Sazonova’s friend with a knife.

As a result, the victims called the police. Both they and the attackers were taken to Police Department No. 3 “Central.” According to Sazonova, while they were in the police car, law enforcement officers threatened the young people with criminal charges because of the songs, and also reacted aggressively to statements about rights.

At the station, the police continued to threaten her with prosecution under articles relating to “discrediting the army” and “extremism.” At the moment, according to Sazonova, she and her friend have not been detained and are at the police station as witnesses to the attack.

00:50 Zlata Sazonova was released from the police station without a report being filed. Her lawyer told OVD-Info about this. It is unknown whether her friend, who was attacked by the group of young people, has also been released.

12 March Sazonova’s friend was also released from the police station, she told OVD-Info.

Сюжет

Detentions, trials and pressure over anti-war statements and criticism of the war in Ukraine