In Belgorod, a man was fined for insulting the Kremlin and the Russian military
In Belgorod, a court fined a 47-year-old local resident 30,000 rubles for comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military on Telegram. This was reported by the Russian publication “Pepel.”
According to journalists, the man used an offensive term to refer to Putin in a chat and used profanity to describe his supporters. When asked about his attitude toward Russian soldiers participating in the war against Ukraine, he stated that they were “victims of Putin’s regime,” after which he also directed profanities at them.
The man’s comments were discovered by officers from the Main Directorate for Countering Extremism of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Charges were filed against him under articles concerning insulting a government official and “discrediting” the Russian army.
In court, the man pleaded guilty but stated that he had no intention of “discrediting” the army and that he had written the comments while intoxicated.
He also asked to be allowed to pay the fine in installments due to his difficult financial situation. According to the man, his only source of income is a disability pension of 19,000 rubles. The court granted this request and allowed him to pay off the fine within three months.
The publication notes that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the number of cases involving insults against Putin has increased. According to “Verstka,” Russian courts heard 33 such cases in 2021, at least 84 in 2022, 54 in 2023, and already 91 in 2024. In the first seven months of 2025, at least 35 such cases were heard.
In most cases, the reports were filed under the article on petty hooliganism. The third part of this article provides for punishment for so-called “disrespect” toward the authorities on the internet. The relevant provision was introduced in Russia in March 2019.
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