Kyiv Court Sentences Woman to Five Years in Prison Over Social Media Posts

The Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced a 42-year-old woman, the mother of a minor child, to five years in prison for social-media posts that an expert assessment found to justify Russian aggression. Two iPhones were confiscated from the convicted woman, and the court also ordered her to pay the cost of the expert assessments, amounting to 25,000 hryvnias. imprisonment for social-media posts that an expert assessment found to justify Russian aggression.

According to the ruling of the Darnytskyi District Court, the woman posted messages on her pages criticizing the Ukrainian authorities. A linguistic expert assessment concluded that these messages justified the Russian Federation’s military aggression.

In one of the posts cited in the court ruling, the woman wrote: “So, my friends, for anyone who still does not understand why this war is continuing, why the children at Okhmatdyt suffered—it was to show Western partners: children covered in blood! A picture! We are a picture for them, our lives are a picture for them! A sad and painful picture so that, against that picture, they would be given… money for a new Bugatti! Money for a new castle in Europe!”

In another post, she addressed her audience: “Everyone has forgotten the promised barbecues in 2021, the derailed negotiations in 2022, and is ready to give their lives for a corrupt official in a ‘little green jacket.’ Either this is the sleep of reason, or the electorate has none at all.” In the same post, she noted that “the army lives on donations, because your ‘leader’ has stolen the loans that even your grandchildren will not be able to repay.”

In another publication, the woman was indignant: “Are you really not bothered by a concentration camp under a yellow-and-blue flag? Television is under control, there is no opposition, bloggers who do not support this obscurantism are put in prison, journalists are sent over the rainbow. War has not been declared, but elections are not being held. Information waves from bot farms are passed off as public support and ‘high ratings.’”

In separate posts, she directly addressed Volodymyr Zelensky: “I want to address Volodymyr Zelensky. We do not need such a president anymore, may there be no such president again. You alone have buried so many people, you alone are the one who did this, you alone! I voted for you, for real, but now I want to say: Vova, it is time to run! And Trump will help you!”

The court ruling says that, according to the expert assessment, these publications justify Russian aggression. It separately notes that they directly blame the president of Ukraine for people’s deaths, which, in the court’s assessment, “excludes the real culprit—Russia” and distorts reality, since the Russian Federation started the war and Ukraine is defending itself.

The court also stated that the woman understood the consequences of her publications and showed “no sentiment or empathy.” As a result, she was sentenced to five years in prison.

The defendant does not admit guilt and is preparing to file an appeal.