The Serpukhov City Court of the Moscow Region sentenced Russian language and literature teacher Natalya Taranyushenko in absentia to seven years in a penal colony on charges of spreading "fakes" about the army, the court's press service reported.
The decision was made on June 23, but it became known only today. In addition to the main sentence, the woman was given a three-year ban on teaching.
The case against Taranyushenko was initiated last summer. The reason for it was a class hour that the teacher conducted back in April 2022 at school No. 1 in the Moscow suburb of Protvino.
Taranyushenko told the children about the crimes of the Russian army in Bucha, showed them several videos from Ukrainian media, and called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a violation of international law. One of the students did not like the class hour and complained to his father.
As noted by ASTRA*, two parents filed reports against Taranyushenko — military officer Artem Alexandrov and entrepreneur Dmitry Naavgust, who sends aid to participants in the invasion of Ukraine. In their complaint against the teacher, they stated that the woman's words "caused psychological trauma and emotional distress to their children."
A few days after the criminal case was initiated, Taranyushenko left Russia. In early July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs declared the teacher wanted.
In July of last year, she was detained in Armenia at Russia's request but was later released.
In September of last year, "OVD-Info"* published a study showing that over 2.5 years of war, at least 148 teachers were persecuted for their anti-war stance. A third of them were persecuted due to reports, which in most cases were written by students or their parents, 22 left the country.
* Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent".