An administrative case has been filed with the Kirovsky District Court of Perm against 47-year-old local resident Nina Pavlova under the article on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. According to the court record, the hearing is scheduled for August 3.
Pavlova told Mediazona that the case stems from a comment she posted on VKontakte in the group “Love in Art”, where paintings by classical artists are discussed. She said the post has since been deleted and that she no longer remembers under which painting the dispute began.
Police focused on a comment that, Pavlova says, referred to Israel. A specialist who conducted a psychological and linguistic assessment concluded that the text contained a negative evaluation of the actions of the Russian military aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces in the DPR and LPR. The opinion also said she had tried to draw public attention and thereby distorted the stated objectives of the military’s use.
Pavlova insists she was not writing about Russian forces, but about what she described as Israel bombing Iran. She says the discussion did not concern the Russian military at all.
“I am absolutely for Crimea being ours, Donbas being ours, Odesa being ours, Kyiv being ours, all of eastern Ukraine, at a minimum eastern Ukraine, all of it ours. In that sense, I’m a real super-patriot,” Pavlova said.
According to her, after the war began she took part in an event supporting the Russian military in central Perm together with activist Roman Yushkov, who has previously been tried multiple times in cases involving incitement of ethnic hatred, calls for extremism, and fomenting hostility.
Pavlova is also facing two more administrative protocols under Article 20.3.1 for anti-migrant comments on VKontakte. Those cases are due to be heard on June 29. She said hearings on those materials had already been held but were postponed after the judge ordered an expert examination. Pavlova noted that the army discreditation protocol reached the court already accompanied by an expert report.