Searches at the homes of Komi communists were conducted in Syktyvkar on April 6. According to TASS, they were connected with the theft of a cell phone from a journalist. However, at the Communist Party’s local office, the incident is explained differently. As the 7x7 media has been informed, the journalist who alleges her phone to be stolen regularly provokes them, and the criminal case, in the communists’ opinion, was initiated for political purposes.
Searches were carried out in connection with a robbery case. According to TASS, the investigation is allegedly linked to the theft of a cell phone from a Syktyvkar resident. REN TV reported that the searches resulted in the confiscation of equipment and "nationalistic documentation."
On March 27, a resident of Syktyvkar named Tatyana Kuznetsova visited Oleg Mikhailov, a member of the Communist faction in the Duma. Later, she informed journalists that she had been confronted by three men who snatched her phone from her bag and assaulted her. Kuznetsova filed a police report regarding the incident but refused to be hospitalized.
Oleg Mikhailov has confirmed to the 7x7 media that searches have been conducted at the homes of three party members. He claims that Tatiana Kuznetsova is "notorious” for her tendency for provoking people and that she comes to the communists’ office every spring. That day, Kuznetsova first attempted to disrupt Mikhailov’s personal meeting and then reported her phone missing. The party’s office was searched and no phone was found, while Kuznetsova was not subjected to a search.
Viktor Vorobyov, leader of the communist faction in the Komi legislature, has referred to the case as a "special operation to defame the Communist Party in Komi." He believes that attacks on communists, the main opposition force in the Komi Republic, will only escalate.
This is not the first time that Tatiana Kuznetsova has been involved in a conflict with Communist Party members. In the spring of 2022, Kuznetsova filed a complaint regarding a banner with a St. George's ribbon (a symbol of the Russian Army and World War II) in the backyard of the communists’ office and demanded them be penalized. She was at the party office for an appointment.
