The defendant in the military 'fake news' case from St Petersburg has stated that they incriminated themselves and have withdrawn their confession.

Dmitry Bogmut from St Petersburg stated that he had incriminated himself and withdrew his confession in the case concerning alleged military “fakes” (subparagraph “d,” part 2, article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code). This was reported by SOTAvision.

During the hearing, Bogmut said that he had partially incriminated himself because he was pressured by a cellmate who claimed to have connections in the FSB: “In the second week, someone was put in my cell who put a lot of psychological pressure on me. In other words, he tried to persuade me to confess to guilt. He aggressively called on me to love the ‘Russian world’ and to love Putin,” the defendant said.

At the hearing, the court extended Bogmut’s detention in the pre-trial detention facility until 25 December.

Bogmut is charged with posting more than one hundred comments. Among them: “Rusnya loves murderers and rapists,” “Look at what your Rusnya is doing in Ukraine: wiping cities off the map and bombing civilians,” “Zelensky faces a tough challenge, he is the leader of a country at war, he has the whole nation behind him,” and “How many thousands of lives has Putin already sacrificed in Ukraine? How many more will he?”

Bogmut, an engineer at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, was reported as being detained and arrested in early April 2024. Investigators stated that between 23 March and 21 June 2023, while at the Kurchatov Institute building in Gatchina (a town near St Petersburg), Bogmut posted texts, videos, and images containing so-called “fakes” about the actions of the Russian army on a certain website. Among other things, this included a video entitled: “Attack on Pavlohrad: how Putin prepares for a defensive war and undermines the combat readiness of the Russian army.”

In November, Bogmut complained about not receiving medical assistance in Detention Centre No. 1 in St Petersburg. He said he feels exhausted and is losing weight. In six months in detention, he has lost 20 kilogrammes and now weighs 50 kg at a height of 182 cm. In addition, he has tooth pain caused by tooth decay.