The St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office sought a nine-year term in a general regime colony for director Vsevolod Korolev, arguing that he disseminated false information about the Russian Armed Forces. The case, reported by MR7.RU, centers on allegations that Korolev used his platform to spread what authorities characterized as harmful and misleading statements about national defense matters, a charge that has become widely discussed amid a broader clampdown on what is labeled as fake news in the country.
Prior to his detention, Korolev had produced works focusing on journalist Maria Ponomarenko and artist Alexandra Skochilenko, both of whom faced accusations of spreading misinformation about the Russian Armed Forces. The court proceedings in this matter began on October 17, 2023, marking a significant milestone in the ongoing legal and political discourse surrounding information control and media responsibility in the region.
During a court session held at the Vyborg District Court in St. Petersburg on February 20, officials presented the case for a nine-year sentence, emphasizing the perceived social risk associated with the alleged crime. The request also included a potential four-year ban on internet publication or involvement in any information projects following release, aiming to restrict future activities in the digital and media spheres for Korolev.
Earlier, Skochilenko responded to punishment for alleged false reporting, reflecting a pattern of prosecutions that have drawn international attention and domestic debate about freedom of expression and the limits of information sharing in Russia. The case against Skochilenko involved an incident in March 2022 in which stylized pages were placed on price tags in a St. Petersburg store, allegedly conveying information about the progress of a Russian military operation that did not align with official statements from the Ministry of Defense. Skochilenko remained in custody for approximately eighteen months during the investigation and proceedings surrounding this act.
In related commentary, a former member of the Human Rights Council, Merkacheva, noted a discrepancy in punishment severity, suggesting that the penalties associated with the murder case were not as harsh as those imposed for the price-tag incident attributed to Skochilenko. This remark highlighted ongoing tensions between legal outcomes and perceived proportionality in sentences tied to acts of alleged misinformation versus other serious crimes, fueling discussions about the consistency of the legal framework and its application in cases concerning information security and civic expression.