Vitalii Zhuravlev
- Criminal Code
- Article 280.3 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Anti-war cases
- Verdict
- Ban on activity, Confiscation, Imprisonment (general regime)
- Sentence
- 2 years 8 months
- Date of verdict
- 2024-12-17
- Region
- Astrakhan Oblast
- City
- Akhtubinsk
- Facility
- ФКУ «ИК № 5 УФСИН России по Кировской области»
- Address for letters
- 613040, Кировская область, г. Кирово-Чепецк, ул. Овражная, 16, ФКУ «ИК № 5 УФСИН России по Кировской области», Журавлев Виталий Владимирович, 1981 г.р.
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as a political prisonerby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, 18 April 2025
- Recognised as a political prisonerby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, 18 April 2025
- Recognised as a political prisonerby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, 18 April 2025
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
He is a resident of Akhtubinsk (the Astrakhan oblast). In June 2024, a case of discrediting the Armed Forces was reported to have been initieted against him. Zhuravlev signed a personal recognisance not to leave the country. On 17 December 2024, he was sentenced to two years in a general regime colony.
No later than February 2025, a new case of discrediting the Armed Forces was initiated against Zhuravlev. The basis for it was an anti-war picture on VKontakte published on 24 February 2022. On 21 May 2025, Zhuravlev was sentenced to 2.5 years in a general regime colony with a two-year ban on administering websites. This sentence was imposed in conjunction with the first sentence.
Another case under this article was initiated against Zhuravlev for an anecdote about the Russian army. On 16 December 2025, the court sentenced him to two years and eight months of imprisonment in a colony in conjunction with the previous sentence.
Others charged under Article 280.3 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
What we write about political persecution
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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.
OVD-Info has been designated an «extremist» organisation in Russia — by decision of the Russian authorities, like other independent human rights and media projects.