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.

You Might Also Like

Discrediting the Military
  • April 19, 2022

Discrediting the Military

Security forces have reportedly filed at least 993 reports against Russians for discrediting the Armed Forces.
Russian Denials Inspire Pet Meme
  • April 14, 2022

Russian Denials Inspire Pet Meme

After the atrocities committed by Russia's military in towns surrounding Kyiv first came to light this month, Moscow labeled the extensive evidence a "fake." The blatant attempt to hide the obvious inspired... a viral cat meme.
Fighting for Truth
  • February 26, 2022

Fighting for Truth

While state censor Roskomnadzor objects to the terms attack, invasion, or war being used for the Russian "special military operation" in Ukraine, average Russians are showing their disapproval.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955