According to Russian opposition media, a 75-year-old pensioner from the Sverdlovsk region was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months suspended in a case of “rehabilitation of Nazism.” It all started after the man called Stalin a “dictator and murderer” in two comments on the social network “Odnoklassniki.”
Points of attention
- The pensioner denies writing the comments, claiming his social media account may have been hacked, raising questions about freedom of speech and censorship in Russia.
- The case sheds light on the delicate balance between expressing opinions and facing legal consequences in a regime known for cracking down on dissent.
What is known about the new scandalous case in Russia?
The Sverdlovsk Regional Court sentenced Mykola Dolgushyn, a 75-year-old resident of the village of Tsementny, to 1 year and 2 months suspended for an article “on the rehabilitation of Nazism on the Internet” for two comments in Odnoklassniki.
Moreover, it is stated that he was banned from using the internet for 1.5 years, was required to register with a psychiatrist, and undergo a course of outpatient treatment.
According to Russian opposition media, the prosecution requested 1.5 years in a penal colony for Dolgushin.
The regime of dictator Putin took on the pensioner only because he wrote two comments in Odnoklassniki in 2023 and 2024:
“The Second World War was started by the dictator and murderer Stalin”;
"You lie, Russian pig, a murderer has declared war on peaceful Poland."
It is also worth adding that in both cases Dolgushin attached a video chronicling the beginning of World War II and the occupation of Poland.
The case was filed in March 2025, and the pensioner himself was at home under a restraining order.
Dolgushin does not admit “guilt.” He assures that he did not write these comments, and his page on Odnoklassniki may have been hacked.
