A Russian teenager faces years in jail over a social media submit criticizing the conflict in Ukraine

CNN
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Olesya Krivtsova sports activities counter-put it in A tattoo on one ankle and a bracelet that tracks her each transfer on the opposite.

A 19-year-old from Russia’s Arkhangelsk area should put on the gadget whereas beneath home arrest after being charged over social media posts that authorities say defame the Russian military and justifying terrorism.

Russian officers added Krivtsova to the record of terrorists and extremists, together with ISIS, Al Qaeda and the Taliban, for posting an Instagram story about Explosion on the Crimean Bridge In October he additionally criticized Russia for invading Ukraine.

Krivtsova, a scholar on the Northern (Arctic) Federal College within the northwestern metropolis of Arkhangelsk, additionally faces felony fees for defaming the Russian army for allegedly reposting the conflict in a scholar chat on the Russian social community VK.

At the moment, Krivtsova is beneath home arrest in her mom’s residence in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Area, prohibited from logging on and utilizing different technique of communication.

“Olesya’s case will not be the primary, and never the final,” Alexei Kishin, Krivtsova’s lawyer, informed CNN.

Kishin mentioned the teenager might resist three years in jail for defaming the Russian army and as much as seven years in jail beneath the terrorism justification article. Nevertheless, Krivtsova’s authorized protection is hoping for a lighter punishment akin to a high quality.

Unbiased human rights monitor OVD info He mentioned that at the very least 61 instances have been filed in Russia in 2022 accused of justifying terrorism on the Web, together with 26 thus far.

Olesya’s mom, Natalia Krivtsova, says the federal government is making an attempt to situation a warning to the general public, together with her daughter “publicly flogged” for not preserving her views to herself.

“We dwell within the Arkhangelsk area and it’s a huge space however it is extremely removed from the middle. There aren’t any extra protests in Arkhangelsk, so they’re making an attempt to stifle no matter is left in its first stage.”

Aleksandr Novikov, a neighborhood head of the Communist Celebration, mocked {the teenager} on state tv, calling her an fool who ought to be despatched to the entrance strains in Ukraine’s japanese Donbass area so she will “look within the eye” of army fight as a part of the Arkhangelsk battalion.

This isn’t Olesya Krivtsova’s first encounter with the authorities for publicly publishing her views. Final Might, she confronted administrative fees for defaming the Russian army by distributing anti-war posters.

Issues obtained much more severe when she was accused of defaming the Russian army on social media final October. In line with Krivtsova’s lawyer, repetition of the offense beneath the identical article turns right into a felony case.

“She has a robust sense of justice, which makes her life tough. The lack to stay silent is now a terrific sin within the Russian Federation,” her mom informed CNN.

In line with Natalya Krivtsova, on December 26 the police broke into an residence the place her daughter was dwelling together with her husband Ilya, forcing the younger folks to lie on the ground and threatening them with a sledgehammer, to which the officers informed her “hiya” from Wagner Groupa personal army contractor headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

CNN has reached out to the State Police in Arkhangelsk for remark.

Olesya was very frightened as a result of she noticed the video wherein A The prisoner was killed with a sledgehammerher mom informed CNN.

Within the notorious video referenced by Natalia Krivtsova, mercenaries from the Wagner Group, which actively recruits prisoners, execute an ex-convict, Yevgeny Nozin, with a sledgehammer after he makes an attempt to flee his submit. The outline of the video reads: “The traitor obtained a primitive, conventional Wagnerian punishment.”

“The state has some unusual insurance policies: prisoners go to conflict, kids go to jail,” she mentioned.