On 10 March 2022, Russian law enforcers reported that Olena Hukova is suspected of “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” (article 20.3.3 par. 1 Russian Code of Administrative Offences). This article was introduced to the code on 4 March 2022, in the midst of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia-controlled courts in Crimea have already made a number of rulings under the new article. It reads as follows: “Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintain international peace and security.” In reality, it allows charging people for actions or public statements against Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On 12 March, Olena published audio from the court that fined her 30,000 RUB (approximately 305 USD). The audio contains her statement in the court in which she calls the Russian invasion of Ukraine a war, not a special operation in Ukraine:
“I have always been and will be against the war of aggression. War is the mass killings of innocent people… [T]his is, of course, not a special operation, it is a complex of special operations. The war is ongoing in the entire territory of Ukraine, except for the West. However, its gets bombings, too. Offensive from Belarus may be called a central operation – because there is an attack on Kyiv, attack from the east may be referred to as the eastern campaign, and attack from the south may be named southern campaign. And these campaigns are made of special operations. There is Kyiv operation, Kharkiv operation, Mariupol operation… And how does Putin not understand this? To call all of this a military operation… And now, I am being prosecuted for this. This is a ‘C’ student, got at school Cs to Ds, he was admitted to a university on a sportsmen quota. His Minister of Defense did not serve in the army at all. And they tell us such nonsense… But this does not even have a principal meaning. People are dying… I showed you the theater of war. I showed that there are a number of military operations. And you know it yourself. Today, they are already bombing Kryvyi Rih, going to Mykholaiv, are bombing it, are bombing Kharkiv, they have bombed the whole Mariupol… All these special operations have converted into a stage of a protracted war… My value judgement: most genuine fascist regime has reigned in Russia.”
Related:
- Russia conceals deaths of Crimean soldiers in Ukraine war amid overcrowded local morgues & hospitals
- Russia rapidly moving landing ships, submarines of Baltic, Northern & Pacific fleets to Black Sea
- Russia continues to plunder and destroy Crimea’s cultural heritage: 150 crimes documented by experts
- New strengthened UN Crimean resolution calls on states to join Crimea Platform, names Crimean Tatars an indigenous people
- Russia continues to coerce Crimeans into its military and punishes those that resist
- “After the third shock, my brain exploded”: Crimean Tatar activist says FSB tortured him with electricity to obtain “confessions”
- How Crimean Tatar leader Dzhelyal swelled the ranks of Ukrainian “saboteurs”
- With Crimea Platform, sanctions can become even smarter — UK Ambassador’s interview, part 1
- Crimea Platform – mere formality or workable mechanism to recover Ukraine’s peninsula?
