In Russia, political opponents of President Vladimir Putin are suppressed, as are critical statements about the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine. There are sometimes draconian penalties. Olesya Krivtsova had to find out that too.
The 19-year-old student had criticized the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in her Instagram story. Some fellow students denounced her to the authorities with a screenshot, Krivtsova was put on a terror list with IS, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Shortly before the end of the year she was arrested. Now she faces years in prison. For the time being, the student from the city of Arkhangelsk in northern Russia is under house arrest and has to wear an ankle bracelet because the authorities believe there is a risk of absconding.
In addition, Krivtsova is prohibited from any kind of external communication, nor is she allowed to use the Internet. According to her lawyer told the US broadcaster CNN, she could be sentenced to up to three years in prison for discrediting the Russian army and a further seven years on terrorism charges.
Olesya Krivtsova has long been critical of Vladimir Putin's politics and has an anti-Putin tattoo on her ankle. "She has a great sense of justice, which makes life difficult for her," her mother explained to CNN. "The inability to remain silent is now a grave sin in Russia." Already last spring she had problems with the authorities because she had distributed protest posters.
After her criticism of the Russian war, officials stormed her apartment and arrested the 19-year-old. One of the men is said to have had a sledgehammer with him - in Russia this is a clear threat. The tool alludes to the death of a deserted mercenary from the Wagner group who was murdered with a sledgehammer. As n-tv reports, the sledgehammer has now replaced the "Z" in Russian propaganda as a symbol for the war against Ukraine.
The specific reason for Krivtsova's post on Instagram was the explosion on the Crimean bridge in October. Three people died. The Russian leadership considered the incident on the strategically important link between the Crimean Peninsula and mainland Russia to be an "act of terrorism".
Sources: CNN/n-tv
Watch the video: Russia's oldest human rights organization, the Helsinki Group, has now been banned, and the opposition medium "Medusa" has been declared an undesirable organization - the pressure on critics of the Russian war of aggression is increasing, reports reporter Rainer Munz from Moscow .
