Homes Of Moscow Anti-War Activists Searched Amid Crackdown

• By RFE/RL's Russian Service Siberia.Realities

MOSCOW -- Police in Moscow have searched the homes of several journalists and activists who have openly protested Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The June 2 searches were linked to a probe launched into the alleged distribution of false information about the use of Russia's armed forces for the war in Ukraine.

Police searched the Moscow State University dormitory room occupied by journalist Gleb Yakutov, who was detained a day earlier on a hooliganism charge.

Law enforcement officers also searched home of activist Dmitry Ivanov's parents. Ivanov, the administrator of Protesting MGU (Moscow State University) Telegram channel, is currently serving a 25-day jail term he was handed in another case.

The homes of two other civil rights activists, Yuliaslava Kovalevich and Daniil Davydenko, also were searched.

In early March, days after Russia launched its war against Ukraine on February 24, President Vladimir Putin signed a law that calls for lengthy prison terms for distributing "deliberately false information" about Russian military operations as the Kremlin seeks to control the narrative about its war in Ukraine.

The law envisages sentences of up to 10 years in prison for individuals convicted of an offense, while the penalty for the distribution of "deliberately false information" about the Russian Army that leads to "serious consequences" is 15 years in prison.

It also makes it illegal "to make calls against the use of Russian troops to protect the interests of Russia" or "for discrediting such use" with a possible penalty of up to three years in prison. The same provision applies to calls for sanctions against Russia.

On May 30, a court in Russia’s Far East handed down the country’s first guilty verdict for spreading “fake news” on the war in Ukraine.

A court in the Zabaikalye Krai region ordered Pyotr Mylnikov to pay a fine of 1 million rubles ($16,000) for posts on the “I Live in Ruins” online group that he administers on Russia’s popular VKontakte social network.

The posts reportedly had videos that local media quoted security officials as saying contained information that attempted to persuade people they should be against the Russian Army's participation in the conflict in Ukraine.

With reporting by Mediazona, OVD-Info, and SOTA