Judge Mariya Kupaeva of St. Petersburg’s Frunzensky District Court returned to the police an administrative protocol on “discrediting” the army that had been drawn up against former Rosreestr employee Sergey Suptelya. Mediazona learned this in court.
The case concerned Article 20.3.3 Part 1 of the Administrative Code. The protocol was prepared over a comment Suptelya posted on October 16, 2022 in the satirical news Telegram channel “Yura, prosti.” During the hearing, however, the text of the comment itself was not read out; only the date it was allegedly discovered was mentioned: May 25, 2026.
The court questioned Nikita Ibraeva, an officer from Police Department No. 14 who had drafted the protocol. He was unable to recall the content of the comment or explain what, in the police view, constituted “discreditation” of the army. He only said that at the time it was discovered, the comment had been “publicly accessible to an unlimited number of people.”
At present, only one comment by Sergey Suptelya remains visible under the post in question. It says:
“NATO still has not shown up for the war, while residents of Belgorod are already sitting in basements, hiding from Russian Orthodox missiles.”
It was over this same comment that, on June 17, 2026, the same Frunzensky District Court sentenced Suptelya to five years in a general-regime penal colony under the law on military “fake news,” specifically Article 207.3 Part 2, points “v” and “d” of the Criminal Code. Before sentencing, he admitted guilt and said he was remorseful.
Suptelya has been in custody since October 29, 2025. According to his wife, he is originally from Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region, studied at the Mozhaysky Military Space Academy, served in Baikonur, and then worked for the past seven years at Rosreestr in St. Petersburg. She also said he viewed the war in Ukraine negatively because his mother lives there.