The court in Moscow sentenced director Ivan Vyrypaev to eight years in absentia

A court in Moscow sentenced director Ivan Vyrypaev to eight years in prison in absentia on charges of spreading so-called fakes about the Russian army.

Vyrypaev was found guilty in the case of spreading “fakes” about the Russian military based on political hatred. The day before, the prosecutor asked for 10 years in prison for the director.

The criminal case against Vyrypaev was initiated in the spring of this year. In April, the court arrested him in absentia (Vyrypaev does not live in Russia), and the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced a federal wanted list.

As reported by Sota, the reason for the criminal prosecution was the director’s statements made in an interview with various media: “Ivan Vyrypaev. Putin will forever remain evil” on the “Khodorkovsky LIVE” channel, broadcast on the “OVD-Info” channel “How war will change art”. on the Chicago radio station Radio NVC “Putin is not interesting to me as the hero of the play”, as well as publications on the playwright’s personal website. According to the state prosecution, all these materials contain false information about the Russian army.

The playwright’s lawyer, Vladimir Voronin, believes that Vyrypaev took the information from open sources. He asked the court to return the case to the prosecutor’s office. The defense also demanded the inclusion of UN reports on the war in Ukraine, but the judge rejected all requests.

• Ivan Vyrypaev is a theater and film director, playwright and producer, former art director of the Praktika Theater in Moscow. Winner of the “Triumph”, “Golden Mask”, “Nika” and “Kinotavr” awards. He spoke out against the persecuted director Kirill Serebrennikov, in support of Alexei Navalny, and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he addressed an open letter to the Russian state theaters that stage his plays, in which he informed that he intended to transfer his author’s royalties to Ukraine aid funds.
• Articles about so-called fakes and the discrediting of the army appeared in the codes of Russia shortly after its invasion of Ukraine. Russian courts recognize as discrediting the report about the war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”, and any information different from the version of the Ministry of Defense of Russia is a fake.
• According to the estimates of the “OVD-Info” project, more than 160 criminal cases have been initiated on the article about the spread of “fakes” about the Russian army.