A Russian court has sentenced Tetyana Montyan, a supporter of the war against Ukraine, to prison

The occupying Voroshilov Interdistrict Court in Russian-occupied Donetsk sentenced pro-Russian blogger and former Ukrainian lawyer Tetiana Montyan to one and a half years in a general-regime penal colony. She was found guilty of publicly inciting extremist activity through statements regarding supporters of the Russian government.

Montyan’s 
defense team intends to appeal the verdict. In addition, the court banned her from managing online resources for two years.

The basis for the criminal prosecution was the blogger’s remarks about the so-called “okhranota.” Montyan used this term to refer to supporters of the Russian government who, in her opinion, abandon their own positions and change their views depending on the leadership’s stance.

According to Russian media reports, during a broadcast in December 2022, Montyan endorsed a viewer’s comment about the need to crack down on the “okhranota” without any mercy.

Russian investigators interpreted these words as a public call for violent actions against a specific social group. A linguistic analysis cited by the prosecution defined “okhranota” as a distinct group of people.

At the same time, Montyan did not admit guilt. Her defense insisted that this word does not have an established meaning in modern dictionaries, and in the context of the blogger’s statements, it referred to opportunists and people who change their beliefs for their own benefit.

Montyan herself and her supporters also claimed that by the word “mochiti,” she meant blocking bots in the comments, not physical violence.

It should be recalled that Montyan, who supported Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion, claimed to be in conflict with Russian intelligence agencies and accused the FSB of persecution.

Russian propagandist Tetyana Montyan was stripped of her right to practice law in Ukraine following a decision by the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar Association of Zhytomyr Oblast.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained four individuals engaged in pro-Russian propaganda.