Dmitri Skurikhin from the Leningrad region has been found guilty of repeated acts of discrediting the army for having names of Ukrainian cities displayed on the wall of his store. This information was reported by the SOTA publication on August 3rd.
The court has sentenced Dmitri Skurikhin to 1.5 years of imprisonment for repeatedly discrediting the army. Part of this term will be credited to the time he has spent in custody. The man was arrested in the courtroom.
Skurikhin was taken to the pre-trial detention center on February 26, 2023. On the first anniversary of the war, he kneeled while holding a placard reading "Sorry, Ukraine" in front of his store in the town of Russko-Vysotskoye. The entrepreneur also had anti-war messages and names of Ukrainian cities displayed on the walls of his store.
Skurikhin is a father with five daughters. In April, the court released him from detention placing him under house arrest instead. Two months later, a group of eight men painted over the facade of Skurikhin's store during the night.
Another widely recognized case for discrediting the army involves Alexei Moskalyov, also a father. In 2022, his daughter, Masha Moskalyova, sketched an anti-war illustration at school. A year later, Moskalyov was accused of discrediting the army for his social media posts. Following his arrest, Masha was placed in a shelter, where she remained for at least a month.
After the court sentenced Moskalyov to two years in a penal colony, Masha was taken home by her estranged mother.
