Yury Kokhovets, a participant in a Radio Liberty street poll, was charged under an article for spreading fake news against the Russian army (Part 1, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Now he is being accused of doing this "for reasons of hatred or enmity," OVD-Info reports , citing lawyer Elena Sheremetyeva, who is involved in the case.
Given these circumstances, now Kokhovets faces imprisonment for up to ten years. His words were analyzed by mathematics teacher Natalya Kryukova and translator Alexander Tarasov, who acted as "experts". Prior to that, they were also involved in an expert examination in the case of the liquidation of Memorial.
The investigation believes that Kokhovets disseminated "deliberately false information" about the mass killings of civilians by the Russian military in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. It believes that the photographs and video materials provided by the Ukrainian side to confirm the genocide of civilians allegedly “are a provocation,” because this information does not correspond to the official version of events voiced by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In July 2022, 37-year-old Kokhovets answered a question from Radio Liberty about whether détente is needed in relations between Russia and NATO. Then he confirmed its necessity, but said that everything depends on Vladimir Putin and "his gop-company." Kokhovets also said that the RF Armed Forces are bombing shopping malls and killing civilians for no reason, including in Bucha.
The fact that Yury Kokhovets was prosecuted for "fake news" about the Russian army became known on March 24, 2023. Before that, in January 2023, it was reported that two residents of Moscow were being tested for a similar "offence" for participating in a similar street poll by the German edition of Deutsche Welle.