Vladimir Osipov
Vladimir Osipov, born 1969, Moscow Oblast. Charges: Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code (Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government…); “Vladimir Osipov's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”. Sentence (November 10, 2025): 18 years' imprisonment in a strict-regime penal colony. Status: deceased. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, June 11, 2025.
In brief
Moscow Oblast · Lyubertsy · Anti-war cases
Sentence
6 years 6 months
18 years' imprisonment in a strict-regime penal colony.
No information about an appeal ruling.
Charges
- Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code — Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government agencies, or mercenaries (based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on grounds of hatred or enmity in relation to any social group)
Full wording of the charges
In court, the prosecution stated that Osipov had called the “special military operation” a "shameful war of a shameful president" and had written that "every criminal has their own signature". The indictment also said that Osipov "posted on Odnoklassniki public accusations that President Putin had organized the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, and accused the Russian Armed Forces of conducting air strikes against civilian objects in Ukraine and killing children in Donbas".
Latest event
April 2, 2026 — persecution ends
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, June 11, 2025
Timeline
· Persecution ends
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 6 years 6 months
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Persecution begins
Vladimir Osipov's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Criminal case
Vladimir Osipov's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Details and sources
Full summary
A resident of the Moscow region. On 13 November 2024, he was taken into custody on charges of spreading deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces due to posts in Odnoklassniki about the explosion on the Crimean bridge, Russian army strikes on civilian objects in Ukraine and killing of children in Donbass.
Osipov was kept in a temporary detention centre for more than 13 days after his arrest. According to his daughter, on the day of his detention they received a doorbell on the pretext of looking for refugees from Syria, and then people with automatic rifles broke down the door, beat her father with a rifle butt and jumped on him, after which they handcuffed his hands in two pairs of handcuffs so that his hands immediately turned blue. The daughter claims that her father was covered in blood and could not see anything because the blood was pouring into his eyes.
On 4 September, during the court hearing, the judge removed Osipov from the courtroom until the end of the debate because he demanded an ambulance. On 8 October he was taken by ambulance from the court to the hospital with hypertension, but on the same day the convoy forcibly returned him to the isolation ward. On 6 November at the hearing Osipov again demanded to call an ambulance. The team that arrived did not take his cardiogram, as the court staff prohibited to take him out of the hall. Osipov stated that he was not ready to give his last word on that day and asked to postpone the hearing, but the judge did not postpone the hearing and deprived Osipov of his last word.
On 10 November, the court sentenced the man to six and a half years in a general regime colony.
On 18 March 2026, the "Prison Lawyer" telegram channel reported that Osipov had died in custody. On 2 April 2026, the court of appeal cancelled the sentence and stopped prosecuting Osipov due to his death.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.