Repression against supporters of the war

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, repressive measures have affected not only opponents of the war, but also its supporters.

Among the most high-profile cases is the prosecution of Igor Girkin (Strelkov), the former defence minister of the self-proclaimed “DPR.” Human rights activists have repeatedly pointed to his involvement in war crimes, and in 2022, a court in The Hague found him guilty in connection with the downing of flight MH-17. However, the Russian authorities sent Girkin to pre-trial detention over a Telegram post in which he criticised the occupation authorities of the “LPR.”

Following this activist’s arrest, his supporters were themselves detained. “I just went out to express my concern for Strelkov and Putin, and they put me in a cage for that,” commented one of them of their experience.

Supporters of the war have also been prosecuted under the administrative offence of “discrediting the army.” For example, former GRU colonel Vladimir Kvachkov was fined under this article for calling to “move from conducting a special operation to a full-scale war with the Ukrainian army.”

In this section, OVD-Info collects information on the use of repressive legislation against those who criticise the Russian state for what they see as a lack of resolve in its foreign and domestic (specifically repressive) policies, as well as their associates.