Court in St. Petersburg charges son of anti-war candidate with “discrediting” the army

June 28, 2024

A court in St. Petersburg has brought charges of a minor offense against the son of a survivor of the Siege of Leningrad. The son is running to replace the pro-Kremlin governor of Russia’s second-largest city, local media report. reported Friday.

Denis Vasilyev has been accused of “discrediting” the Russian military, news website Zaks.ru reported, citing the press office of a local court. The charges are said to be related to posts he published on the Russian social media website VKontakte.

The St. Petersburg court that heard the case against Vasilyev did not provide details about his social media posts.

The man faces fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($580) if found guilty of the charges. Zaks.ru reported that he had already been fined 30,000 rubles on the same charge in October 2022.

Vasilyev, who is said to be living in exile but still serves as a deputy in his hometown of St. Petersburg, is the son of Lyudmila Vasilyeva, a long-time protester and self-nominated candidate for governor in the upcoming regional elections.

To get on the ballot, she has to overcome a major hurdle: Friday is the deadline by which she must collect 80,000 signatures – or two percent of the population of Saint Petersburg – as well as those of 155 deputies from at least 80 municipalities.

Vasilyeva was arrested three times in the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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