An associate professor of St. Petersburg University was accused of discrediting because of his avatar

Dmytro Burakov, a lecturer at the St. Petersburg State University of Communications, was detained by the police and taken to court. He is charged with an administrative article on discrediting the army.

The reason for the detention was the avatar on the page in the VKontakte social network, which depicted a trident on the background of the Ukrainian flag and a pacifist statement. As “Fontanka” reports, it follows from the police protocol that Burakov “posted informational material: the image of the national coat of arms of the Republic of Ukraine was placed in the place of the image of the profile picture.” As RBC clarifies, the police detained the associate professor right at his workplace in the university auditorium.

According to the article on the discrediting of the Russian army, Burakov faces an administrative fine in the amount of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles. “I agree, of course, with what was posted by me. I reject the intention of discrediting”, – quotes “Fontanka” Burakov.

• From the beginning of March 2022 to the end of March 2024, Russian courts received 9,098 reports on the discrediting of the army, according to the data collected by Mediazona. Russian courts recognize virtually any information about the war in Ukraine that contradicts the Kremlin’s official position as “fakes” and discrediting. At least half of the verdicts in cases of so-called fakes about the army were handed down by the courts because of statements about the killing of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian military.