Search
Since the beginning of October, courier Yaroslav Bykov has been detained at least three times on administrative charges, Mediazona has reported.
The man was detained on 2 October. He was charged with displaying prohibited symbols (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code) over an Instagram post featuring the white-blue-white flag. Security services consider this to be the symbol of the Freedom of Russia Legion, which has been designated a terrorist organisation by the authorities. The post was published on 31 December 2022, in which Bykov congratulated Ukrainians and the Ukrainian armed forces (AFU):
“This year you have shown a true example of courage, the unity of your nation against evil. All over the democratic world, many were mentally burying you and your country, thinking you would not last more than three days. But fortunately, Putin’s evil broke its teeth near Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv. In the new year, I wish you all a speedy victory.”
He separately congratulated Ukrainians who “hear us, Russians with an anti-war stance, and maintain relations with us.”
The day after his detention, the Golovinsky District Court sentenced Bykov to 14 days of administrative arrest. In court, the courier admitted guilt and said that in 2022 he had succumbed to depression, but now realised it was a mistake.
His defence lawyer told the court that Bykov had been diagnosed with cancer and also has several chronic illnesses. Judge Zhanna Averyanova stated in her decision that she did not trust the medical documents provided and would not take them into account.
On 16 October, after his arrest period ended, the courier was detained again. He was again charged under the same article over a post on Facebook. Bykov used as his cover image a picture featuring barbed wire, the white-blue-white flag, and the caption: “Citizen of the beautiful Russia of the future, acting as a foreign agent in Putin’s Russian Federation.”
The next day, the same court sentenced the courier to another 15 days of arrest. The man admitted guilt and asked not to be sent to the special detention centre again.
On 1 November, the Troitsky District Court reviewed a third case against Bykov. This time he was accused of petty hooliganism (Part 1, Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code). The decision in this case has not been published. Under this article, the courier could have been sentenced to up to 15 days in detention.
While the first two charges were filed by officers from the Levoberezhny District police station, the third was processed at the department serving the migration centre—located next to the special detention facility in Sakharovo, on the outskirts of Moscow.
Today, 18 December, the Golovinsky Court received a motion from an investigator to remand Bykov in custody on criminal charges—he stands accused of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army out of hatred (subparagraph “d,” Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The specific grounds for the criminal prosecution are not known.
22 December According to a case summary on the court website, on 19 December the Golovinsky Court remanded Bykov in custody.
Support our demand for a ban on “carousel arrests”—sign the petition. This is a safe and effective way to show how many people see the problem and demand action.