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Russian TV star fined for criticizing war with Ukraine

A Russian television presenter was fined 50,000 rubles (about 500 euros) on Thursday for a 2022 Instagram post in which she opposed the offensive in Ukraine. According to a Moscow court, Anastasia Ivlejeva “discredited” the Russian army.

Ivlejeva posted a post denouncing the war on March 1, five days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the Instagram post, she described the Russian attack as a “catastrophe.”

“People are dying in Ukraine, cities are being destroyed and our soldiers, many of whom are still very young, are being killed. There is an information war going on that is making us, the simple citizens, unable to discern the truth,” she wrote. The text was accompanied by a well-known drawing by the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso depicting a dove of peace.

Ivlejeva’s lawyers argued that she made the post before the adoption of the law against discrediting the military on March 4, 2022. Moreover, according to them, the statute of limitations for the type of crime Ivlejeva is alleged to have committed is three months. Kaloy Achildov, one of her lawyers, vowed to appeal.

Ivlejeva recently came under fire because she organized a party in a nightclub in Moscow in December last year with the theme ‘Almost naked’. Numerous Russian celebrities were present, dressed in skimpy outfits. Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the party.

Ivlejeva was convicted on December 29, 2023 for disturbing public order through her party. The nightclub where it took place was also ordered to temporarily close by a Russian court in January. Several attendees, including the daughter of Putin’s political mentor, publicly apologized.