The court arrested Pyotr Verzilov in absentia* in the case of fakes about the army

Pyotr Verzilov.
© Igor Ivanko / AGN Moscow

The Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested in absentia the publisher of Mediazona* Pyotr Verzilov* for two months, RIA Novosti reports.

The press service of the court told the agency that Verzilov was charged under part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public distribution of fakes about the use of the RF Armed Forces based on political or other hatred).

In early January, Verzilov was put on the international wanted list for violating the measure of restraint chosen for him in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the country. He was accused of concealing information about the presence of foreign citizenship.

As Parlamentskaya Gazeta wrote, at the end of January, the Investigative Committee charged Verzilov in absentia with disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces. A criminal case against him was initiated because of messages on the social networks Twitter (blocked in the Russian Federation) and Instagram (banned in Russia, owned by Meta, a company recognized as extremist in Russia) about the events in Bucha. According to investigators, Verzilov “created a real threat of forming a false opinion among citizens about the goals and objectives of the special military operation in Ukraine.”

* – recognized as a foreign agent