Press Release, 16.08.2022

Photo: Sofya Pugachyova / Photo by the Pskov Yabloko Press Service

The Pushkinogorsk District Court in the Pskov Region found Sofya Pugachyova, head of the Novorzhevsky District elected from Yabloko, guilty of “discrediting the Russian army” due to the disappearance of the letters V and Z from the windows of the district community centre, which had been allegedly painted by the children from the summer camp on their own initiative for the Day of Russia (12 June). The local activists of the ruling United Russia party regarded the incident as a pretext for public persecution of the head of the district. The deputies of the district Assembly appealed to the public prosecutor’s office, and the police searched Sofya Pugacheva’s office, confiscating her office laptop, personal phone and work notebooks. The court fined Sofia Pugacheva 50,000 roubles (around 850 Euro).

Sofya Pugacheva explained her decision to remove the symbols of the “special operation” from the windows by the responsibility for the safety of municipal property. In addition, according to the team of the head of the district, the letters V and Z are not the official symbols of the country, which means they should not have been present on the windows of the community centre on the Day of Russia.

The defence of Sofya Pugacheva is led by lawyer Vladimir Danilov. The decision of the court has not entered into force and will be appealed.

Read more  about the persecution of Yabloko members after the start of the “special operation”.