In St. Petersburg, a philatelist was accused of discrediting the army because of a post about the stamp “PTN PNH!”

A court in St. Petersburg found Oleg Vladimirsky, a well-known philatelist in the city, guilty of defaming the Russian army and fined him 30,000 rubles. The reason for drawing up the protocol was a collector’s post with the news about the release of the Ukrposhta stamp with Banksy’s painting “PTN PNH!”, says Sever.Realii.

Vladimirsky wrote the post before the anniversary of the start of a full-scale military invasion of Russia into Ukraine. In the publication, the philatelist listed “the most significant upheavals for the aggressor who started a war against a neighboring, once kindred and friendly country.” Among other things, Vladimirsky mentioned “military defeat” and “isolation from the rest of the world.”

In a conversation with Sever.Realia, Vladimirskyi said that after the start of the full-scale war, “several dozens of denunciations” were written about the financing of the “Nazi regime of Ukraine” on the activities of his online stamp store, which sells Ukrpochta stamps, among others.

The court issued a decision on the Vladimirskyi case on June 7. The philatelist himself was not present at the meeting – in recent years he has been living in Finland.

• Articles on the dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian army and its discrediting were included in the legislation in March 2022. The courts recognize any criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the army, and reports of crimes that could have been committed by the Russian military as discrediting and spreading fakes.