The Leninsky District Court of Smolensk declared the Telegram channel of writer Mikhail Zygar «Yes. Zygar» banned in Russia, noted the court's decision «Verstka»*.
The prosecutor of the Zadneprovsky district of the Smolensk region filed a lawsuit, under whose guidance «monitoring» was conducted and «violations» were «identified» — Zygar's posts do not indicate his status as a «foreign agent».
The Smolensk region prosecutor's office stated in its lawsuit that the Telegram channel «forms a false representation» of the Russian army and «contains information» against the war in Ukraine. Thus, it disseminates «banned information» to an indefinite circle of people, including minors, as «access to the specified channel is open».
Despite this, the court last fall ordered the decision to be sent to Roskomnadzor to include the Telegram channel in the registry of banned sites, but it has not appeared there.
In July 2024, a court in Moscow sentenced Mikhail Zygar in absentia to eight and a half years in a general regime colony on charges of military «fakes». The reason for the criminal prosecution was a post about the killings of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha by Russian military.
«Bucha is a satellite city of Kyiv, from which Russian troops withdrew — leaving behind bodies of civilians everywhere, many with their hands tied behind their backs. And survivors talk about mass rapes», — said in Zygar's post.
* Recognized in Russia as «foreign agents».
Photo: Instagram of Mikhail Zygar