In Moscow, a member of Yabloko was searched in connection with a case on military “fake news”

In Moscow, security forces carried out a search at the home of Yabloko party member and environmental activist Nikolai Markin, his party colleague told OVD-Info.

A criminal case has been opened against the activist for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). It is not yet known which specific publications prompted the prosecution.

After the search, Markin was to be taken to an Investigative Committee office in the town of Ramenskoye, near Moscow. OVD-Info’s legal defender Natalia Tikhonova travelled to assist the activist.

11 March After interrogation, Markin was released on a travel restriction order, said his defender Natalia Tikhonova on her Telegram channel.

She noted that the case was initially opened under the article on military “fake news” with a motive of hatred (paragraph “d,” part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), but Markin was ultimately charged with a lesser offence—military “fake news” without the motive of hatred (part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

• Last year, the Ramenskoye city court fined Markin 35,000 rubles (about US$370) under the article on “discrediting” the army (part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). The reason was two posts on VKontakte published in April 2022. One contained a drawing with the caption: “Now Kramatorsk. When will the Party of War stop?,” and the other showed a church with the inscription: “XV, Enough War.”
• In 2017, Markin tried to run for the council of deputies of the Sokol district in Moscow from the Communist Party (KPRF), and in 2019 for the council of deputies in the Ramenskoye city district, near Moscow. Since the 2010s, they have been campaigning against deforestation in Ramenskoye. The latest campaign they participated in was to protect the Bulonsky Forest.