Since the beginning of March 2022, Russian courts have received 4,035 administrative cases on “discrediting” the Russian army, according to data from the Pravosudie GAS system collected by Mediazona.
Almost 3,300 of them have already been considered: 3,285 — in district courts, and two — in the military. Most of the cases — over 300 — came to the courts in mid-March. By June, the number of cases began to drop to hundreds a week.
Most of the protocols were made in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Krasnodar Territory.
Article 20.3.3 — «Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Russian army» — was introduced into the Code of Administrative Offenses on March 4, shortly after the start of the Russian army's invasion of Ukraine. The fine under this article is from 30 to 50 thousand rubles. After the decision comes into force, a person can be prosecuted for a similar violation within a year (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code).
The concept of «discredit» is interpreted extremely broadly. Protocols under this article were drawn up for a request to include the Ukrainian song “Oh luzi red viburnum” at a wedding, for writing on ballot papers, for posts “no war” on Instagram and for the mocking use of the letter Z.
