Vasily Bolshakov, a resident of the Ryazan region, was prosecuted under an article about the repeated discrediting of the Russian army because of a post on VKontakte, where on November 9, 2022, he published a joke:
“I haven’t read really funny jokes for a long time:
– Sergey, why are we retreating from Kherson?
“Volodya, you yourself ordered the liberation of Ukraine from the fascists and Nazis…”
According to OVD-Info, citing information from Bolshakov's wife, on February 14, a search was conducted at a man's house in the city of Kasimov, during which he was beaten: the security forces knocked Bolshakov to the floor, beat him and handcuffed him.
The first case against Bolshakov was administrative – similarly for "discrediting the army." He now faces up to five years in prison.