Daughter of Russian contract serviceman issued fine for ‘discrediting’ army by appearing in AFP video

A court in Russia’s Pskov has fined local resident Anastasia Grigoryeva to the tune of 35,000 rubles (€560) for “discrediting” the Russian army, she told Sever.Realii news outlet.

Grigoryeva was fined for her statements made in the video report published by AFP dubbed “Russian sisters see father scarred by Ukraine fight”, in which she said: “I feel enormous guilt for all Ukrainians. I feel sorry that they have to go through all this all the time. All these military offensives, the war in the country, the destroyed homes.”

“They filed a report without me, I didn’t appear in court, I did not plead guilty. They handed me a fine. Naturally, I disagree and think it’s illegal, but this is how it works in our state. We’ll see what to do,” the woman said.

Elizaveta and Anastasia Grigoryeva are the daughters of a Russian contract serviceman who took part in the Ukraine war. In late May, a local court sentenced the women to 20 hours of community service for violating public assembly rules.

Police detained the sisters on 6 March when they picketed in the centre of Pskov with a sign that read “Peace to Ukraine, Freedom to Russia” during the national rally for peace announced by Alexey Navalny’s team.

After they appealed the ruling, the court replaced community service with 10,000-ruble (€160) fines for each sister.