Russian woman jailed for 7 days after shouting ‘Glory to Ukraine’ at pro-war poetry performance

A woman in St. Petersburg has been sentenced to seven days in jail for shouting “Glory to Ukraine” during a poetry performance in the city, independent news outlet Bumaga reported on Monday.

Vasilisa Magritskaya was detained at a pro-war poetry performance on Friday night and charged with spreading “propaganda of extremist symbols” and petty hooliganism for using “obscene language”. Magritskaya was given five and two days of arrest respectively on both charges, the St. Petersburg courts press service said on Sunday.

Magritskaya shouted “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!”, a slogan widely used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during a moment of applause, according to Bumaga. She pleaded not guilty to the charges, and rejected the accusation that she had used obscene words.

This was not the first such case in St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region. St. Petersburg resident Vyacheslav Smirnov was sentenced to 10 days’ arrest in March after police found a picture with the “Glory to Ukraine” on his phone, Bumaga reported earlier.

Russian courts have deemed the slogan extremist, which they justify by saying it is used by the Freedom of Russia Legion, a Russian unit which fights alongside Ukrainian forces in Ukraine, and has been placed on Russia’s register of terrorists and extremists.