Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has begun a relentless crackdown on critics of the Kremlin, particularly those, anonymous or famous, who denounce the war.
Russian police have prosecuted a Moscow man accused of defaming the Russian military by dyeing his hair blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine.
Stanislav Netesov went to a police station in central Moscow on April 28 after he was attacked, beaten and had his phone stolen the day before, according to the organization OVD-Info, which monitors the crackdown on voices critical of the Kremlin and with which the interested party came into contact.
“Assessing that Netesov’s headdress symbolizes Ukraine and discredits the Russian army, the police prosecuted him,” explains OVD-Info, which reports that the accused is now at risk of a fine because of his yellow, blue and green hair.
“Besides, law enforcement took the young man’s fingerprints. They also told Netesov that they would make him ‘kiss his native land in the trenches’ and handed him a summons to the recruitment center,” the organization continues.
Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has begun a relentless crackdown on critics of the Kremlin, particularly those, anonymous or famous, who denounce this war.
Among the recent cases, a Muscovite pediatrician, 67-year-old Nadezhda Buyanova, was taken into custody on April 25, with authorities accusing her of violating a court order imposed on her in February and charging her with defamation of the military.
Buyanova is being prosecuted because during a medical examination she allegedly told the widow of a Russian soldier killed in Ukraine and her child that the dead father was a “legitimate target”.
Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia’s all-powerful Investigative Committee, the body that handles the most important criminal investigations, had then personally called for criminal charges to be brought against the doctor, who now faces up to five years in prison.
Thousands of journalists, human rights defenders, political opponents and ordinary citizens active on social media are in prison and facing prosecution for reporting on the invasion of Ukraine and atrocities by the Russian military.
Dozens of them have been sentenced to prison terms.
Source :Skai
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