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

29.04.2025

20:55

A protocol was drawn up against a resident of Obninsk for “discrediting the Russian army” (Article 20.3.3, part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of a comment on Telegram. She reported this herself to OVD-Info.

Under a post with news about children athletes lined up in the shape of the letter Z, the woman quoted a poem by Daria Serenko:

“Stand in line, children, make a ‘Z,’
No letter in the world’s better than it!
Drawn in blood and glory red—
A half-swastika for the victories ahead.

Have we won? Yes, we’ve won:
They told us, and it’s done.
We were sent, and so we kill,
If ordered ‘Fass,’ we’ll kill you still.

Death, surely, is better than life,
And light, of course, is darker than night,
Happy Victory Day over fascism—
But now it’s us who are fascist, right…”

27.04.2025

17:51

At a college in the south-west of Moscow, students are being forced to write a dictation with questions about the war in Ukraine under threat of being barred from exams. This was reported by the “Idite lesom!” (“Get Lost!”) project, citing one of the students.

“At my college, they are making us write the ‘Victory Dictation,’ otherwise we won’t be allowed to take the history exam. During registration for the dictation, you have to fill in your address, name, phone number and so on. The history teacher said that without a certificate confirming we had passed the test, we wouldn’t be admitted to the exam,” the project quotes the student as saying. “Several questions in the dictation tested our knowledge of ‘heroes’ of the ‘special military operation’ who died in battle defending the motherland and other things in that vein.”

The “Victory Dictation” is an educational campaign introduced by United Russia in 2019, consisting of a test on the history of the Second World War. In 2025, following an order by Dmitry Medvedev, questions about the “special military operation” were added to the dictation.

In April, OVD-Info launched the “Of Your Own Free Will” project. Through this initiative, we provide advice to people who are being forced at work or in education to support the war, vote, or take part in patriotic campaigns.

25.04.2025

13:49

Krasnodar Krai

The Pervomaysky District Court in Krasnodar has fined a 21-year-old local resident, Anna Popova, 30,000 rubles (about US$330) under the law on 'discrediting' the Russian Armed Forces (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code), and 1,500 rubles (about US$16.50) for displaying banned symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code) because of content shared on VKontakte. Popova reported this to OVD-Info.

She said that she was detained on 16 February while laying flowers in memory of Navalny. Police took Popova to the station, where she spent the night. There, they drew up a protocol on 'discrediting' due to her VKontakte status: 'No to war'.

An officer from the Centre for Combating Extremism (Centre 'E') also checked the young woman’s social media again and then filed a second protocol because of a 'saved post' from 10 May 2022. The image, published by Popova, showed two intertwined hands—one with a tricolour armband and the letter Z, and the other hand with an armband that police said resembled Nazi Germany symbols.

Popova said she did not admit guilt in either case. Regarding the 'saved post', the appeal court upheld the decision. She plans to take the matter to the Supreme Court. She also plans to appeal the verdict on 'discrediting', which was handed down on 21 April, to higher courts.

23.04.2025

14:46

Samara Oblast

On 19 March, the Sergiyevsky District Court of Samara Region fined 69-year-old elderly man Aleksandr Konchenkov 10,000 roubles (about US$110) under the article on inciting hatred or enmity (Art. 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The outlet Idel.Realii drew attention to the ruling.

The protocol was drawn up against the man because of a comment he posted on VKontakte under a post in the public group “Aleksandr Khinshtein’s Team” in November 2024.

“After all, what we are doing now in Ukraine—no animal is capable of such a thing. We have degraded to a beast-like state. That is what I replied to someone on OK (the social network Odnoklassniki—editor’s note), where he was celebrating our missile strikes on Ukraine. It is already hard to call us human. Instead of helping Ukraine, we attacked. It’s like in Pushkin: ‘We are faint-hearted, we are treacherous, etc,’” Konchenkov wrote.

A linguistic analysis concluded that the comments “contain a negative assessment of a person or group of people on the grounds of belonging to Russian citizens; the representatives of the said group are compared to animals, are characterised as having degraded to the first stage of livestock development; it is difficult to describe them as humans.”

Konchenkov agreed with the protocol and explained to the court that he was expressing his position, but did not know this could carry liability.

The court set the fine taking into account that the man’s pension amounted to 22,700 roubles (about US$250).

22.04.2025

13:11

Tula Oblast

The Proletarsky District Court in Tula has fined regional coordinator of the unregistered party “Rassvet” (Dawn), Yevgeny Malyugin, 40,000 roubles (approximately US$430). He was found guilty of “discrediting the Russian army” (Article 20.3.3, Part 1, of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by the “Tula. ExtremiZm” Telegram channel, which is linked to law enforcement. OVD-Info found the case record on the court website.

The court issued the fine yesterday, 21 April. According to “Tula. ExtremiZm,” Malyugin published an article in one of the blogs he manages about the events of the August 1991 coup. In it, he stated that the 106th Tula Airborne Division is currently “meaninglessly shedding blood on foreign soil,” whereas on 21 August 1991, the paratroopers of that division “refused to suppress the protest” at headquarters and “became national heroes.”

In his blog, Malyugin announced that he would challenge the fine.

“I am absolutely confident that such an article [on discrediting] should not exist at all, that people should not be prosecuted for their beliefs, which, in the opinion of law enforcement officers, supposedly ‘discredit’ something. And what is happening to me is unequivocally political pressure,” said Yevgeny Malyugin.

At the end of February, law enforcement detained the activist. He was issued protocols under articles on “LGBT propaganda” (Article 6.21, Part 3, of the Code of Administrative Offences) and discrediting the army.

The first case against the young man was initiated over a photo in his personal Telegram channel. For this, in early April, the court fined Malyugin 100,000 roubles (approximately US$1,080).

The “Rassvet” party was founded in 2024 by former presidential candidate Yekaterina Duntsova. She stated that her party stands against the war, for democratic reforms, and for repealing laws that violate Russians’ rights, such as the “foreign agents” law. In May 2024, Duntsova herself was added to the list of “foreign agents.”

21.04.2025

12:17

Republic of Tatarstan

Irina Khakamada’s appearance in Kazan, a city on the Volga River, was cancelled following a complaint from local deputies. This was reported by Idel.Realii.

The masterclass, “The Tao of Life: Three Steps to Success,” was scheduled to take place on 20 April at the Korston shopping centre. For unknown reasons, visitors were first evacuated from the shopping centre and, some time later, Khakamada announced that the event would be cancelled. She told those gathered that she had not been given permission to hold the masterclass.

The day before, Eduard Sharafiev, a member of the State Council of Tatarstan who took part in the war against Ukraine, and Alfred Valiev, a deputy of the Kazan City Duma, said they had contacted the prosecutor’s office demanding the cancellation of the business speaker’s appearance.

In December 2022, Khakamada gave an interview to RTVI: during the conversation, she said that none of her acquaintances had been conscripted, as there were “no idiots” among them. Later, this part of the interview was removed.

Previously, Khakamada’s appearances were also cancelled in Irkutsk, a major city in Siberia, and Voronezh, a large city in European Russia.

19.04.2025

14:19

Republic of Tatarstan

A protocol for “discrediting the army” (Article 20.3.3, Part 1 of the Administrative Offences Code) has been submitted to the Vakhitovsky District Court of Kazan, concerning a person who has the same full name as the headteacher of School No. 12, Rozaliya Kozlovskaya. OVD-Info drew attention to this fact.

The case was assigned to Judge Artur Kiselev on 18 April. A hearing date has not yet been set.

The reason for the protocol is not yet known.

Rozaliya Kozlovskaya is the headteacher of the prestigious Kazan School No. 12 “Mishpahteinu,” located in the Vakhitovsky District. Local media call it a “Jewish school.” In the late 1990s, ethno-cultural classes were established there; on the anniversary of this event in 2024, the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, visited the school. “We are ORT Mishpahteinu School: Jewish traditions combined with quality education,” reads the description of the school’s page on VKontakte.

Kozlovskaya has been running the institution since 2019; before that, she was the director of the Kazan Technical College of Surface and Underground Electric Transport.

OVD-Info found no public statements by her about the war, and her VKontakte page is blocked by the social network.

16.04.2025

13:38

Chuvash Republic

The Cheboksary District Court in Chuvashia has fined Vitaly Borisov, who is currently serving a sentence in Penal Colony No. 6 of the republic, under the administrative charge of “discrediting the Russian army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offences Code) for performing a song of his own composition in front of other inmates. The court ruling was published on the court’s website, and the outlet Idel.Realii drew attention to it.

The man was fined 30,000 rubles (approx. US$330). The full lyrics of the song were removed from the court decision; only a few quotations are cited.

According to the ruling, Borisov performed his original song for inmates in the colony’s assembly hall on 5 January. The acting head of the colony instructed the head of the Criminal Law Department at the Law Faculty of Cheboksary Cooperative Institute (the individual’s name is redacted in the document) to review the lyrics.

According to the expert opinion, the lines: “…heroism among people in Russia looks like this. One hundred and fifty million against forty, with a nuclear club behind us…”; “… I found it dishonourable to strike from behind, and to launch rockets from afar, shining brightly…”; “… Two Vladimirs are fighting, and the people are dying, but one fights for truth, while the other only lies…” were deemed to discredit the army, contain false information, “influence the subconscious of inmates negatively, and create a false impression of the special military operation.”

Three inmates in the colony stated that from the song lyrics it “became clear to us that he demeans our country, believes that the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine, considers us to be aggressors and thus discredits our Army and the President of the Russian Federation,” the decision says.

Borisov did not admit guilt, stating that in the song he expressed his “personal vision and opinion about the events taking place in the country.”

15.04.2025

13:01

In Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, the Piotrovsky bookshop cancelled the presentation of a book by architect and anti-war activist Polina Ivanova after complaints from pro-government Telegram channels. The local outlet It’s my city drew attention to the incident.

The presentation of the book, “A Guide to Sverdlovsk and Yekaterinburg,” was scheduled for 16 April. The event announcement was highlighted by the UralLive Telegram channel, which is affiliated with Vladimir Solovyov’s team, as well as by the right-wing “Russian Community” movement.

The publication alleged that Ivanova “promoted protests against the Z symbol at the Ural State University of Architecture and Arts,” “encouraged cultural institutions in Yekaterinburg to write a letter against the ‘special military operation’ (SVO),” took part in anti-war protests, collaborated with Yevgeny Volkov (the brother of politician Leonid Volkov), and used the Ukrainian flag as her profile picture.

Following these publications, the bookshop cancelled Ivanova’s appearance, citing “reasons beyond its control.”

11:23

Sverdlovsk Oblast

The Kirovsky District Court of Yekaterinburg fined Roman Gilmanov, an employee of the Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Education, 30,000 roubles (approx. US$330) under the article on “discrediting the Russian army” (Art. 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by the outlet 7×7.

Gilmanov was detained on 25 March at the opening of an exhibition outside the Church on the Blood. At the church, a monument called “The Pipe” had been installed, dedicated to the advance of Russian troops into Sudzha (Kursk Region), and representing a copy of the gas pipeline through which Russian soldiers entered the town. The official approached the monument with a placard opposing the installation of this object. He was detained and jailed for 15 days under the article on “disobeying the police” (Art. 19.3 of the Administrative Code). Later, another police report was filed against him.

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