Russia is ramping up repression for comments in support of Ukraine or against Russian aggression on all occupied territory and doing so with demonstrative lawlessness. Not only are many of the ‘arrests’ gratuitously violent, but they can be over social media posts from back as far as 2014. Although the main aim is doubtless to terrorise the population into silence, the fact that posts from 12 years ago can be dredged up means that anybody who ever expressed pro-Ukrainian views is in danger. On 12 August in occupied Sevastopol armed and masked men violently seized a 49-year-old man waiting at a bus stop, with the FSB’s propaganda video then showing him remanded in custody for two months and facing a sentence of up to 7 years for a comment about the Russian Volunteer Corps which is fighting for Ukraine. That same day, Crimean Ksenia Pohoriela was convicted of three administrative ‘offences’ over posts, one from 2014, on VKontakte, with these including an image of Russian leader Vladimir Putin drinking Ukrainian blood. In occupied Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia oblast), a 38-year-old man, who is not named, is also facing a long sentence for supposed ‘propaganda of terrorism’ over a social media comment from November 2022.
Ksenia Pohoriela
Crimean Tribunal reported on 12 August that the Crimean woman was convicted of three administrative ‘offences’ over social media posts, one of which was posted 12 years ago. This was eight years before Russia’s State Duma hastily passed into law the administrative ‘offence’ with which she was charged and other administrative and criminal charges aimed at silencing protest over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The argument that such retrospective application of the law is justified because the posts remain in the public domain and “accessible to all users of the Internet” is nonsense. It is hard even to find something we posted last year, let alone remember and track down posts from a over a decade ago. For the same reason, it is most unlikely that ordinary “users of the internet” who do not exert the FSB’s control over VKontakte and special tools for surveillance, would ever find the posts in question, all of which were from 2014-2017.
There were three separate charges, all under Russia’s code of administrative offences. Article 20.3 § 1 of Russia’s administrative code punishes for what is called propaganda or public demonstration of Nazi symbols, symbols linked with ‘extremist organizations’ or banned by Russian legislation. Article 20.1 § 3 refers to the circulation of information on the Internet “which expresses in indecent form clear disrespect to society, the state, official symbols, the constitution or Russian bodies of power. Article 20.3.3 was passed into law ten days after Russia’s military began bombing, shelling, torturing, raping Ukrainians and looting their homes. It punishes for what Russia called “circulating information aimed at discrediting the use of the Russian Federation’s armed forces to defend the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, to support international peace and security”
‘Judge’ Valentyna Kamynina from the occupation ‘Kievsky district court’ in Simferopol convicted Pohoriela of all three charges. The fines altogether came to 82 thousand roubles (around 860 euros) with the largest amount (50 thousand roubles) predictably imposed for the image of Putin with a bottle of blood, with the label ‘Ukraine’, as well as another, seemingly with Putin, ‘a judge’ and ‘policeman’. Both had accompanying texts with choice language. She was fined 30 thousand roubles for supposedly ‘discrediting the Russian armed forces’ in nine texts posted from December 2014 through October 2015. The fine was because these expressed “a positive assessment of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and negative assessment of the actions of the Russian armed forces.” The last, very small, fine seems to have been over the alleged Nazi and SS Death's Head Battalion symbols on the VKontakte page from July 2015 to June 2017. It is unclear what proof there is for the last charge which seems rather implausible, especially given that, even back then, such symbols could have resulted in administrative or criminal charges.
The charges this time were administrative, however that could change swiftly as one administrative prosecution for supposedly ‘discrediting the Russian armed forces’ is enough for the next to be on criminal charges.
Sevastopol man (b. 1977)
The video allegedly showing the ‘arrest’ by two men in masks, one of whom at least is armed, was posted on 12 August by Crimean SMERSH, a supposedly ‘civic organization’, run by collaborator Oleksandr Talipov. The Russian regime is, in fact, trying to revive the notorious Soviet SMERSH and Talipov & Co. are clearly working closely with the occupation enforcement bodies.
The man had, purportedly, posted several comments expressing support for the Russian Volunteer Corps, and suggesting that ‘lads from RVC’ be declared Heroes of Ukraine. Russia is claiming that all such volunteer units are ‘terrorist organizations’, with this same pretext for persecution used against Ukrainian prisoners of war from several military units which are incorporated within Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
On the grounds of a flawed ruling which labelled an organization ‘terrorist’, charges have been laid against the Crimean of ‘public calls to carry out terrorist activities; public justification or propaganda of terrorism’ (Article 205.2 § 2 of Russia’s criminal code). He has already been placed in custody with it likely that he is facing a sentence of up to seven years for comments on social media.
Imprisoned for a 2022 social media post
The 38-year-old from occupied Melitopol has been remanded in custody over a comment that he posted in November 2022. The so-called ‘prosecutor’ for occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast reported that the man is accused of making ‘public calls to activities aimed against the security of the Russian Federation via the Internet’.
This is what the aggressor state which invaded Melitopol and other Ukrainian territory in 2022 called the 38-year-old’s comment, calling on people to donate money to Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
See also:
Vitaliy Trofymchuk Ukrainian teenager who needs vital medication sentenced to 5.5 years for negative comments about Russian invaders
Oleksandr Maliarenko
Crimean sentenced to 5.5 years for social media comments in support of Ukraine’s Armed Forces
Serhiy Obushny
Crimean pensioner sentenced to six years for social media comments against Russian aggression
Serhiy Tubolets
Tetiana Deviatkina
Russian invaders sentence Tetiana Deviatkina to 6 years for criticizing them on social media
