The State Duma is discussing amendments imposing sanctions for discrediting volunteers participating in the military operation in Ukraine. They were introduced by a group of deputies headed by Speaker of the Chamber Vyacheslav Volodin. RTVI has gathered everything we know about innovations.
By words Volodin, “any public dissemination of deliberately false information, as well as public actions aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, volunteer formations, organizations and persons who help in the performance of the tasks assigned to the Forces RF armies, are unacceptable.”
The second reading of the bill in the State Duma will take place on March 2, the third is scheduled for March 14, reported website of the lower house of parliament. Changes have already been approved recommended to take State Duma Commission on State Building and Legislation.
Initially, at first reading, it was a bill with different content. It concerned the administrative penalty for the publication in the media of cartridge manufacturing instructions and criminal liability for illegal entry into protected facilities. A group of deputies led by Volodin submitted amendments to this draft, expanding the scope of the article of the Criminal Code on liability for discrediting participants in a military operation.
What are the planned changes to the Criminal Code, said RBC First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on State Construction of the State Duma Daniil Bessarabov. Changes will be made to two articles of the Russian Criminal Code – 207.3 and 280.3.
Article 207.3 of the Penal Code establishes liability for the public dissemination of deliberately false information on the use of the armed forces to protect the interests of the country and citizens, to maintain international peace and security.
The maximum penalty is imprisonment for a period of 10 to 15 years (if the crime was committed using an official position, by a group of people, with the artificial creation of incriminating evidence, based on political, racial hatred or religious, and also led to serious consequences).
Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code provides for liability for public actions aimed at discrediting the armed forces and the exercise by Russian state bodies of their powers outside the country for certain purposes.
The maximum penalty is imprisonment for up to five years.
According to Bessarabov, the following changes are planned:
In art. 207.3 and 280.3 of the Criminal Code of Russia, the wording “as well as containing data on the provision by volunteer formations, organizations or individuals of assistance in the performance of tasks assigned to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation ” will appear. Accordingly, “discrediting” not only military personnel and authorities, but also voluntary participants in the military operation in Ukraine is criminalized. The maximum liability under part 1 of both articles will be reinforced: in part 1 of art. 280.3 of the Penal Code, instead of three years’ imprisonment and a three-year ban on holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities – five years each. In part 1 of article 207.3 of the Penal Code, instead of three years of hard labor or imprisonment – five years each.
Administrative and penal articles on discredit Russian army and about “fake about the armed forces appeared in the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Russia in the spring of 2022, after the start of the military operation in Ukraine. The first convicted under the article about “forgery” was Moscow city deputy Alexei Gorinov. In July, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. In December, politician Ilya Yashin* was sentenced to 8½ years in prison under the same article.
Introduce criminal liability for discrediting not only the Russian armed forces, but also all participants in the military operation at the end of January Free founder of PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin. According to him, any criticism of the participants in the military operation and the publication of information on their past offenses must be prohibited. Prigozhin noted that the maximum sentence should be five years.
In late February, the head of the investigative commission, Alexander Bastrykin, said that in less than a year, 152 criminal cases had been opened in Russia for discrediting the Russian military and “false” the armed forces.
*recognized as a foreign agent in Russia
