'We will throw both you and the dog from the balcony': how Russia is persecuting opponents of the war in Ukraine

At the disposal of journalists VOA turned out to be an audio recording of a call with death threats against Russian activist Mikhail Samin. They rained down on him after he condemned the war in Ukraine. Another activist, Ilya Kursov, said he was kidnapped by police officers right out of bed because he posted information about protests against the war with Ukraine on social networks. A law on the so-called discrediting of the Russian army began to be applied to anti-war activists, the maximum punishment for which can be up to 15 years in prison.

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"We'll kill you and your dog"

Activist Mikhail Samin began receiving threatening phone calls after he spoke out against the war in Ukraine. On the recording, which the activist provided to journalists, Samin tries to appeal to the conscience of the caller, emphasizing that “because of people like him, children are dying in Ukraine.”

“Today you, ***, day ***, until tomorrow ***, delete all your records ***, on the *** Internet ***, and you will sleep peacefully,” says an even male voice. - Really, moron, but we'll see you, don't worry. And you'll regret it. If you don't go crazy, we'll throw you off the balcony. Traitors have no place here."

The door of the apartment where the activist lived was defiled with the letter Z, which scared his sister, who was just about to go for a walk with the dog. According to the recording of the telephone conversation, the callers promised to throw the dog named Sky from the balcony along with the activist himself.

“My sister called me,” Samin says. “She was going for a walk with the dog, left the apartment, and saw these inscriptions, the letters Z.”

Around the same time, he received another call.

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“They said that if I didn’t stop doing this, they would kill me and the dog. Apparently, they found out about the dog because it was barking when they were drawing all this, ”he conveyed the words of those who threatened him.

The day before the threatening calls and vandalism, Samin was sent a telegram about being summoned to court for “discrediting” the Russian army under Article 20.3.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses (public actions aimed at discrediting the Russian Armed Forces).

“On April 15 there will be a trial. If you manage to send a lawyer, you will find out why. Well, apparently, for some posts, probably, - the activist suggests. “But, of course, nothing discredits the armed forces of the Russian Federation more than the war crimes they commit, like torturing people, killing civilians.”

On his Facebook page, Samin condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“A terrible thing is being done on behalf of my people right now,” he wrote in a March 6 post. “My compatriots – with brainwashed or criminal orders – have invaded the territory of a foreign country, destroying houses and killing people. Thousands of people are dying and suffering needlessly. There can be no justification for this. Putin, who started this war, cannot be justified.”

“There was a feeling of some unreality of what was happening, because before that I was absolutely convinced that Putin would not do this,” Samin shares his thoughts. - Despite all the gathering of troops at the borders, it was absolutely clear that this would simply immediately destroy the future of Russia. It just seemed completely impossible.”

He spoke out against the recognition of the so-called LDNR

Activist Ilya Kursov from Barnaul was prosecuted by the security forces for reposting information about a protest action against the war in Ukraine posted on Instagram.

“Due to the fact that I posted in one of the protest chats and posted in stories that a protest action was planned, at 08:00 am, right from my bed in the hostel, I was kidnapped by employees of the Center for Combating Extremism, taken to the Center “E “and confiscated the equipment,” Kursov explains.

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According to him, the security forces exerted moral pressure on him - they threatened him with a prison and did not allow him to call either his parents or human rights activists. The activist believes that the unprecedented reaction of the Russian authorities to any protest activity is due to the fact that a much smaller number of Russians than the propaganda tries to show approve of the war. According to him, although many residents of his city were afraid to openly join the protest, people still approached the anti-war pickets and spoke out for peace.

Kursov stressed that the first administrative protocols were drawn up for anti-war posts published even before the adoption of a new law on "discrediting" the Russian army.

“In my posts, specifically speaking about “discrediting” the occupying forces, I spoke out against recognizing the “LDPR” back on February 23: I wrote that this was a violation of all norms of international law, a crime,” says Kursov. “The police officer told me when I was leaving that ‘if you do anything like that again, I’ll deal with you professionally,’ whatever that means.”

As in the case of Samin, Kursov was accused of violating Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation on “discrediting” the Russian army. At the same time, in the case of repeated offenses committed during the year, the prosecution begins to have a criminal character. Under the new law, the maximum penalty for "discrediting" the Russian army could be up to 15 years in prison.

“Now I have two fines in the amount of fifty thousand rubles,” says Courses. – And besides, in these case materials I saw several other posts of mine, which were not included in this case for the first time under 20.3.3. Therefore, I really feared that they have the opportunity to use it again, which means to initiate a criminal case.”

Mikhail Samin and Ilya Kursov, fearing for their safety, left Russia.

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