In St. Petersburg, a woman accused of “fakes” was transferred from a pre-trial detention center to a psychiatric hospital

The city court in St. Petersburg decided to transfer Victoria Petrova, who is accused of spreading so-called fakes about the Russian army, from pre-trial detention center to a psychiatric hospital. Several videos that Petrova posted on the VKontakte social network became the reason for initiating a case against her. In her post, she criticized the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine.

The court had to decide the question of the measure of suppression of Petrova. The defense requested that she be transferred to house arrest. An employee of the municipal district “Grazhdanka”, where Petrova is registered, also spoke at the court. He was supposed to appear on the side of the defense, however, after listening to Petrova’s position on the war in Ukraine, he agreed with the accusation. “She hurt herself and it’s better for her to stay there (in custody). That way there won’t be a relapse,” he said.

In the summer, the court already appointed Petrova inpatient forensic psychiatric examination. According to her lawyer Anastasia Pylypenko, the activist spent a month and a half in the expert department of a psychiatric hospital, after which she was returned to the pre-trial detention center. The results of the examination have not been made public, they belong to the closed part of the case.

28-year-old Victoria Petrova was detained in May 2022 on charges of spreading “fakes” about the Russian army and its participation in the war in Ukraine. The post attributed to Petrova criticized the military actions in Ukraine, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and his associates, and spoke of human losses on both sides. Nine videos were attached to the post: the YouTube channel of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, politician Alexey Arestovych, journalist Dmytro Gordon and others.

At the trial, Viktoria Petrova emphasized that she had no animosity towards the Russian military. “On the contrary, I tried to save them, appealed to the authorities and appealed not to send them there… I wanted to save their lives,” she said.

Petrova may face up to 10 years in prison on charges of “fakes”.