Russian officials have issued the first criminal conviction for spreading “fake news” since the country passed laws restricting content critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Officials in Zabaykalsky, a Russian region on the east side of the country, convicted Pyotr Mylnikov on Monday of falsifying unspecified Russian Defense Ministry documents and posting “knowingly false” videos on a social media page he ran in March.
Mylnikov was accused by Russian officials of trying to foster a “negative attitude” toward the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Euronews. He now faces a fine of 1 million rubles, or $16,000, but he was spared the maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment.
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The man allegedly pleaded guilty to the charges, and a video has circulated on Telegram allegedly showing him “confessing” to the crime. However, the contents have not been verified.
While Mylnikov is the first to be convicted under Russia’s “fake news” law, other Russians have been arrested on similar charges since the Feb. 24 start of the invasion. Russian artist Sasha Skochilenko was arrested in April for placing anti-war stickers in supermarkets.
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Russia passed a law on March 5 expanding its criminal code to penalize anyone found guilty of knowingly spreading false information about Russia’s armed forces. This included reporting or spreading data on Russian casualties that did not come directly from Russian officials. The law has led several Western news outlets to modify their protocols to protect journalists from repercussions.
Russians have committed several war crimes, including “stealing” children from Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. While the United States continues to provide weapons and munitions to Ukraine, the country’s forces have struggled to maintain a presence in Donbas, where the fighting has recently been focused.
