May 02, 2022

Schoolboy vs The Kremlin


Schoolboy vs The Kremlin
The Motherland is calling, but is she calling for war or peace? Sergei Karpov / @sergeykarpovphotographer

In Volgograd, a schoolboy has been put on a watch list after allegedly disseminating information on social media about the Russian army in an attempt to "discredit" it.

The boy was singled out during a regional operational and preventive event called “Your Choice,” which included police checking social networks to root out cases where individuals might be discrediting the armed forces.

The event was held in the Volgograd region from April 14-22, and included over 2000 lectures and nearly 1500 inspections of families registered in the area. Additionally, there were 46 new administrative protocols drawn up, 21 of which concerned minors. Not only was the young schoolboy affected, but two teenagers were also temporarily detained for unspecified crimes.

While the exact crimes of the schoolboy and teenagers remain unspecified, "discrediting" the armed forces can mean anything from referring to the "military operation" as a war or invasion, to posting war figures that oppose the Kremlin narrative, or to simply saying "Нет Войне"—no to war.

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