Man justified shelling of Kharkiv on VKontakte — what the court decided
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In Kharkiv, a man shared posts on the banned social network "VKontakte" in which he questioned the actions of the Ukrainian army and justified the occupation of part of Ukraine's territory. The court chose a punishment for him.
This is stated in the court verdict published in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
Details of the case
The court materials indicate that since March 2022, the man, who works as a picker in one of the retail chains, has published comments criticizing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, justified Russian shelling of civilian objects, and accused the Ukrainian authorities of starting the war.
The man also shared a video in which he denied Russia's participation in the war and expressed the opinion that part of the Ukrainian population supports joining Russia. In his publications, he called the information about the mass killings in Bucha a "hoax" by the Ukrainian authorities and the media, which is intended to arouse sympathy and receive financial assistance from the international community.
Semantic analysis of these materials confirmed that the man deliberately spread disinformation and justified the actions of the Russian military. In one of his posts, he stated that "Ukrainian troops are bombing civilians" and that Kharkiv is suffering from shelling due to the alleged presence of Ukrainian military personnel in residential areas.
Court decision
The court found the man guilty of spreading materials justifying Russian aggression and sentenced him to three years in prison.
At the same time, the accused was released from actual service of the sentence with a probationary period of two years.
We also wrote that in Odesa, the man justified the Russian invasion by saying that if it were not the Russians, the Americans would have captured Ukraine and given the city to Israel.
And in Svitlovodsk, Kirovohrad region, a local resident reported on the places where summonses were issued through an anonymous Telegram channel. The court found him guilty of obstructing the work of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
