‘Russians are killing children in Ukraine!’

Russian woman fined for shouting anti-war slogans from window after neighbour reports her to police

A court in the Siberian city of Chernogorsk, in Russia’s Khakassia region, has fined a 30-year-old local woman 30,000 rubles ($370) on charges of “discrediting the military” after she repeatedly shouted anti-war slogans from her apartment window, according to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti.

The woman, identified only as Tatayana M., was found guilty under Russia’s law against discrediting the military. According to the court ruling, she would deliberately wait until people gathered in the courtyard before shouting phrases including “Russians are killing children in Ukraine” and “They occupied Ukraine”.

One neighbour recorded the outbursts on a voice recorder and handed police a disc containing 21 audio files. Three other neighbours corroborated that Tatyana regularly shouted from her window.

In court, she pleaded guilty, saying she drinks periodically and that this makes it hard for her to control what she says, leading to disputes with neighbours. She said she did not remember the specific phrases captured in the recordings but did not rule out having said them.

The court treated her guilty plea and expression of remorse as mitigating factors. It considered her three prior convictions under the same chapter of the Administrative Offences Code an aggravating circumstance. She was ultimately fined 30,000 rubles.