Volgograd student Vodolagin declared political prisoner

Daniil Vodolagin, a Volgograd university student, was wrongfully accused of spreading fake news about the Russian Army, the human rights project "Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial" has announced and demanded that the criminal case be closed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 1, 2023, the Sovietsky District Court of Volgograd received a criminal case against the 21-year-old Vodolagin, accused of spreading fake news about the Russian Army under the motive of political hatred due to his pacifist posts in social networks. On December 28, the court made the trial closed.

"We don't know which particular post gave rise to Vodolagin's criminal prosecution. However, the very fact of prosecuting him under Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code allows us to consider it unlawful. The article is obviously an instrument of military censorship and political repression against critics of the authorities. This article should be cancelled, and all the criminal cases under it should be closed," the Telegram channel of the above project has stated.

Let us remind you that that Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code was introduced on March 4, 2022, after the start of Russia's special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. Under this article, in particular, the Krasnodar journalist, Alexander Nozdrinov, was sentenced to 8.5 years in penal colony.