Dmitry Vanifatiev
- Criminal Code
- Article 280.3 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Anti-war cases
- Verdict
- Suspended prison sentence
- Sentence
- 2 years
- Date of verdict
- 2025-06-05
- Region
- Volgograd Oblast
- City
- Volzhsky
Case summary
Dmitry Vanifatiev is a resident of Volzhsky, Volgograd Oblast. A case was opened against him for discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The grounds were a video about the war in Ukraine which he shared on his Telegram channel in May 2024, as well as a comment in which Vanifatiev referred to Russian servicemen fighting in Ukraine as “occupiers”. At the time of this publication, an administrative ruling for discrediting the army — issued in January 2024 for an anti-war comment — had already entered into force.
In May 2025, the case went to court. A month later, Vanifatiev was given a two-year suspended sentence with a two-year probation period, as well as a three-year ban on administering websites, channels, forums, groups and chat rooms.
Others charged under Article 280.3 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
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