A case of fakes was initiated in Moscow against a 63-year-old pensioner

A criminal case has been initiated in Moscow for the distribution of so-called fakes about the Russian army on the grounds of political enmity against 63-year-old pensioner Konstantin Seleznev, reports the human rights project “OVD-Info”.

The suspect’s apartment was searched, his phone, equipment and foreign passport were seized. After that, Seleznev was taken for questioning, and later placed in a detention center. On Wednesday morning, the Lefortovsky district court must choose a restraining order for him.

It is reported that two posts of a pensioner on his personal page in the VKontakte social network became the reason for the initiation of a criminal case.

In one of them, he copied his own letter to the Prosecutor General of Russia, in which he quoted excerpts from a UN report and an investigation by the American edition of The New York Times about the alleged crimes of Russian servicemen on the territory of Ukraine – in particular, about the murders of civilians in Buche.

In another post, Seleznyov criticized Russian President Putin for awarding honorary titles to the 64th motorized rifle brigade, whose soldiers are suspected of mass crimes in Buche, and the 53rd anti-aircraft brigade, whose servicemen are suspected of being involved in the crash of a Boeing over the Donbass in 2014. In the text, the pensioner calls Putin “the head of the terrorist state.”

Konstantin Seleznev may face up to ten years in prison. It is noted that he is married and has two children.

• In March 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine, Russia introduced laws on criminal and administrative liability for so-called fakes about the Russian army and discrediting its actions. In a year and a half, the authorities initiated thousands of administrative and hundreds of criminal cases under these articles. Dozens of citizens were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. According to human rights activists, military censorship has actually been introduced in Russia.