In St. Petersburg, the apartment of photographer Valentyn Nikytchenko was searched

In St. Petersburg, the police searched the apartment of 73-year-old photographer Valentin Nikitchenko. A laptop, old diskettes and a camera were taken from him. Photo albums with photographs of protest actions were also taken. “Rotonda” writes about it.

Valentyn Nikytchenko regularly goes to the courts of St. Petersburg activists and films protests in the city.

After the search, the photographer was taken to the police department, where, according to him, a report was drawn up on the article about the discrediting of the Russian army. There was no lawyer with Nikitchenko, he was not given a copy of the report. He was released from the police on a bond to appear.

• Russian courts and investigative bodies consider any information about the war in Ukraine that does not correspond to official reports of the authorities to be discrediting and spreading so-called fakes about the Russian army. In particular, this concept includes information about war crimes, including attacks on civilian objects, and about victims among the civilian population.
• On March 14, the State Duma of Russia adopted amendments that increase the criminal liability for discrediting, now punishment also threatens for spreading “false information” about mercenaries and volunteers for the war in Ukraine.