Helga Pirogova

Former deputy of the Novosibirsk City Council. A criminal case was opened against her for disseminating knowingly false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation over an emotional tweet. The complaint demanding that a case be initiated was filed with the prosecutor’s office by Andrey Panferov, deputy chairman of the regional legislative assembly. By that time, the tweet had already been deleted. On July 21, 2022, Pirogova was detained after a charity auction and taken to a police station to draw up a protocol under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). However, the next day the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, demanded that a criminal case be opened, which was done immediately. Pirogova left Russia. In June 2023, she was stripped of her deputy mandate.