A criminal case about fakes was opened against Anastasia Bryukhanova

A criminal case has been initiated against former Moscow municipal deputy and opposition activist Anastasia Bryukhanova for spreading so-called fakes about the Russian army. This is reported by RIA Novosti and RBC with reference to sources close to the Investigative Committee and familiar with the materials of the criminal case.

As RBC writes, the reason was Bryukhanova’s YouTube video published on December 23, in which, among other things, it was said that the Russian military was involved in the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha near Kyiv. The investigators considered these statements to be “obviously false information.”

In a conversation with “Mediazona”, Bryukhanova noted that the case could have been initiated both because of this video and any other. According to her, she is active in anti-war activities and publishes materials about the war every day.

According to Bryukhanova, who is not in Russia, she learned about the criminal case from the mass media. On April 1, she received an electronic certificate of criminal record, which did not say anything about the criminal case initiated against her, said an activist of the Dozhd TV channel.

In 2016, Anastasia Bryukhanova was elected a municipal deputy of Shchukino district of Moscow. In 2019, she tried to run for election to the Moscow City Duma, but was not allowed to run for office. In 2021, she became a candidate for the State Duma deputy and took the lead in her single-mandate district after direct voting. However, after the publication of the results of remote electronic voting, she lost to the candidate from “Spravedliva Rossii” Halyna Khovanskaya.

• In March 2022, Russia introduced laws on criminal and administrative liability for so-called fakes about the Russian army and discrediting its actions.
• Russian courts recognize any information about the war that contradicts official reports by discrediting and spreading obviously false information.
• According to human rights activists, since the beginning of the war, more than 450 people have been prosecuted under criminal articles for their anti-war stance in Russia. More than 100 of them are in prison.