A woman from Obninsk, a city in the Kaluga region south-west of Moscow, has been sentenced in a case regarding support for the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) and “Vesna.”

On 10 September, the Obninsk City Court in Kaluga region sentenced Irina Chernikova, a resident of Obninsk, to four years in a general-regime penal colony and a fine of 200,000 rubles (approximately US$2,150) in a case concerning her support for FBK and “Vesna,” OVD-Info was told by the court.

She was found guilty under articles on “discrediting the army” (part 1, article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) and “participation in an extremist organisation” (part 2, article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). The court’s response regarding the verdict does not mention the case being considered in absentia. In February 2024, it was reported that Chernikova had been arrested, but she later stated that she had left Russia.

Chernikova was accused of publishing links to the FBK online project “Russia without Putin 2024,” to the Telegram channel “Navalny’s Team” and the YouTube channel “Navalny LIVE,” as well as links to a post by the Vesna movement’s Telegram channel with an appeal from the women of the “Way Home” organisation to Putin.

It was also reported that investigators found a link in the defendant’s account to an online storage containing Vesna leaflets with slogans such as: “For anyone but Putin, to bring soldiers home,” “Russia without Putin—the return of those mobilised,” “Russia without Putin—peaceful negotiations,” “For anyone but Putin, so that he stops releasing criminals,” “Putin is sanctions against Russia,” “Putin is violence” and others.

Before getting married, Chernikova’s surname was Lopanova. In February 2023, we wrote that a criminal case had been opened against Irina Lopanova from Obninsk, a city in Kaluga region southwest of Moscow, under the article on repeated “discrediting” of the Russian military (part 1, article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). By that time, the woman was already outside Russia.