The Constitutional Court says the article on military "fakes" does not violate the rights of Russian citizens.

constitutional Court I refuse consider the complaint of a political prisoner Alexey Gorinov: He argued that the article providing for liability for “fakes” about the army is a tool for suppressing dissent.

However, the court disagreed and stated that the article on military "fakes" does not prevent citizens from "expressing their own opinions regarding the activities of the Russian Armed Forces, including pointing out the presence of shortcomings" (as long as this does not involve the deliberate dissemination of false information).

Moreover, the court’s official refusal states that “defending the Fatherland is not only a constitutional and legal obligation, but, first and foremost, the duty of a citizen of the Russian Federation.”

“Following this logic, any criticism of the state as such can be considered illegal,” says a member of the human rights center "Memorial" Violetta Fitzner. For us, of course, this is nothing new; we constantly see authorities persecute people for completely peaceful statements. It's just that now no one is shy about speaking out about it directly."

Moscow municipal deputy Alexei Gorinov is the first person convicted in the "army fakes" case. He received a seven-year sentence for calling the "SVO" a war during a parliamentary meeting, proposing a moment of silence for the dead, and calling the holding of entertainment events unacceptable.