Ruslan Nurushev, a lawyer and civic activist from Volgograd, has been in custody since November 7, 2024. He is facing criminal charges under Article 207.3, Part 2, Clause "d" of the Russian Criminal Code — for “knowingly disseminating false information” about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces.
The charges stem from a post Nurushev made on the social network VKontakte, in which he commented on an airstrike targeting the “Epicenter” hypermarket in Kharkiv. In his post, Nurushev described the strike as a war crime and accused the Russian military of attacking a civilian target.
Nurushev has acknowledged authorship of the post but denies any wrongdoing, stating that he was merely expressing a personal opinion on events that were widely reported in international and Ukrainian media. Nevertheless, investigators classified his statement as intentionally false and alleged that it was aimed at discrediting the military.
According to human rights organizations, shortly before his arrest, Nurushev had filed a complaint with the Investigative Committee against TV hosts from the local channel Volgograd-1. The hosts had aired personal information about residents who laid flowers in memory of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Soon after the complaint, Nurushev's home was searched by officers from Russia’s Center for Combating Extremism, and he was subsequently arrested.
Nurushev is represented by attorney Eduard Yapparov. The defense argues that the prosecution has not presented convincing evidence that the information Nurushev shared was knowingly false. They also claim that treating his statement as a criminal offense violates his right to freedom of expression.
Background: Article 207.3, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code punishes the "public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, committed out of political hatred." Introduced in March 2022, the law carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison. In practice, it is frequently applied to public statements, publications, or reposts mentioning the military’s actions during the war in Ukraine. Other individuals prosecuted under this law include municipal deputy Alexei Gorinov (sentenced to 7 years), politician Ilya Yashin (8.5 years), and journalist Maria Ponomarenko (6 years).
The case of Ruslan Nurushev reflects a growing trend of persecution against lawyers and civic activists in Russia who speak openly about the war and political repression.
by V. Ivanenko, Human Rights Defender
