A criminal case was initiated against 56-year-old Iosif Gelyastanov for 'discrediting' the Russian army, he was detained and transported to another region, his sister told «OVD-Info»*.
The native of Khakassia was detained in St. Petersburg, where he lived and worked as a masseur, seeking clients through the service Avito. On October 31, a person wrote to him claiming to live nearby and requested a massage session soon. When Gelyastanov left his home with a massage table, he was detained by law enforcement.
Iosif Gelyastanov was taken to Khakassia, where a criminal case was initiated against him for anti-war posts on «VKontakte», published last year. In 2023, law enforcement had already spoken to him about his anti-war publications.
The sister of the case figure told the human rights project that Gelyastanov holds pacifist views.
As a preventive measure, the man was placed under a travel ban, now he cannot leave the village of Efremkino in the Shirinsky district of Khakassia.
In June 2022, Gelyastanov was already fined 50,000 rubles in Sochi for 'discrediting' the army, at that time he made anti-war inscriptions on a railway platform and breakwaters. This made it possible to initiate a criminal case, as he was previously prosecuted under a similar administrative article.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.
Photo: OVD-Info