Viacheslav Samusev

A driver with "Mosgortrans", — Moscow’s public transport operator. A criminal case was opened against him on charges of publicly justifying terrorism. On 29 August 2023, Samusev was taken into custody. In April 2024, it became known that he was also accused of spreading "fake news" about the Russian Armed Forces. The cases were merged, after which investigators announced — in their own wording — that the criminal prosecution under the article on publicly justifying terrorism had been "partially discontinued". The case was sent to court under a single charge related to "fake news". On 3 September 2024, Samusev was sentenced to two years in a penal settlement but was released from serving the sentence; shortly beforehand, the prosecutor had softened the charges by removing the motive of hatred. On 7 November 2024, an appeals court replaced the sentence with a fine of one million rubles (approximately US$11,000) and again released Samusev from serving the punishment.