Volgograd court upholds fine imposed on oppositionist for discrediting army

The Volgograd Supreme Court (SC) has refused to cancel the fine imposed on the oppositionist, Alexander Efimov, under the article on discrediting the Russian Army by posting UN materials. Alexander intends to appeal against the SC's decision.

In March, a court fined Alexander Efimov, a member of the federal bureau of the "Yabloko" Party, finding his post in a social network as discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. He linked the persecution to his campaign against the renaming of Volgograd to Stalingrad.

Efimov was charged with posting of an official document of the UN human rights mission in Ukraine dated January 16, 2023. Alexander has recalled that Russia is a founder and member of the UN Security Council. "This information poses no public danger ... There were no value judgments about the Russian Armed Forces in my post," he asserts.

Efimov has noted that the publication of the UN document cannot harm the Russian state or its armed forces. According to the activist, the administrative protocol against him was drawn up "in violation of all conceivable and unimaginable norms."