Prosecuted for what you said online

Draft. Compiled from human rights groups' guides but not yet reviewed by a lawyer. This is not legal advice — check the linked sources and consult a lawyer.

• Main offences: 'discrediting the army' (20.3.3 CAO; a repeat within a year becomes criminal art. 280.3), army 'fakes' (207.3 CC), 'extremist symbols' (20.3 CAO), 'justifying terrorism' (205.2 CC).
• Old posts are risky too: courts treat them as a 'continuing' offence and count the limitation period from when the post is found. Deleting a post already recorded won't help, but it lowers the risk of new cases.
• If a report is being drawn up: detention lasts up to 3 hours; ask for a linguistic expert review, note violations in the report, strike out blank lines and take copies.
• Human rights groups usually advise making profiles private, not discussing the war with strangers, avoiding VK and Russian services for anything sensitive, and remembering art. 51 of the Constitution.
• Where to turn: Network Freedoms (@nfp_hotline), First Department, OVD-Info (bot). RosShtraf helps pay fines in anti-war cases.

current as of September 25. More: OVD-Info: 'discrediting' and 'fakes' (extremist); First Department: punishment for old posts (foreign agent)

Draft. Compiled from human rights groups' guides but not yet reviewed by a lawyer. This is not legal advice — check the linked sources and consult a lawyer.

• Telegram Stars and paid reactions are not anonymous: the channel owner sees the sender and the history stays in your account. People are already being charged with treason and financing terrorism over them.
• There is no minimum amount: a case is possible over a single Star. In September 2026 a Tyumen man got 8 years for Stars sent to the channels of Michael Nacke, Alexander Nevzorov and Alexander Shpak.
• Before donating, human rights groups advise checking the recipient's status (see 'Check yourself'). Donating to an 'extremist', 'undesirable' or 'terrorist' organisation can lead to a criminal case.
• In Telegram settings you can hide yourself from the 'top senders' list. If you donated after an organisation was banned, talk to a lawyer about what to do with the account.
• Banks restrict people on the Rosfinmonitoring list: they may spend no more than 10,000 roubles a month per family member on living costs.

current as of September 25. More: OVD-Info: Telegram Stars (extremist); Mediazona: 8 years for Stars (foreign agent); Wikipedia: the Rosfinmonitoring list

Draft. Compiled from human rights groups' guides but not yet reviewed by a lawyer. This is not legal advice — check the linked sources and consult a lawyer.

• Since June 2026 OVD-Info no longer arranges lawyers in Russia, so many people defend themselves. Under the Code of Administrative Offences your defender need not be an advocate; it can be someone you trust.
• Before the hearing, human rights groups advise reading the case file and checking the record against your copy: a missing signature or wrong time or place is grounds to ask for evidence to be excluded (art. 26.2 CAO).
• Submit motions and explanations in writing. You may make an audio recording of the hearing without permission (art. 24.3 CAO).
• An appeal must be filed within 10 days of receiving the ruling. A fine is due within 60 days of the ruling taking effect; not paying means a double fine or arrest (art. 20.25 CAO).
• OVD-Info has document templates. RosShtraf helps pay fines in anti-war cases; Net Freedoms, First Department and Nora give advice.

current as of September 25. More: OVD-Info: defend yourself (extremist); OVD-Info: paying a fine (extremist); RosShtraf