A Russian man is raging after he was fined £400 for dreaming about Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky heroically freeing him from a concentration camp.
A Russian man is raging after he was fined £400 for dreaming about Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky heroically freeing him from a concentration camp
Ivan Losev, 26, stood trial last week in what he branded an “idiotic” case in the Siberian city of Chita in Russia’s Zabaykalsky region and was found guilty under draconian laws that bar criticism of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
He was found guilty of “discrediting” the Russian army on December 8 and fined him 30,000 rubles (around £400) after he also posted on Instagram about his dream.
A law passed in March threatens those who slam Putin’s war with up to 15 years in prison.
According to the Sibir.Realii news website, in a now-deleted Instagram post Ivan said he dreamed he was mobilised by Moscow and brought to “some kind of preparatory camp” for Russians.
He added: “I dreamt that I was mobilised and brought to some kind of training camp when all of a sudden the Ukrainian armed forces, led by Volodymyr, burst in.
“They tied everyone up and they were going to shoot us. But at that moment, Zelensky passes me and says, ‘Oh, I saw your stories on (Instagram), glory to Ukraine!”
Ivan added Volodymyr freed him but ordered “everyone else” to be shot dead, before he asked the Ukrainian leader for a selfie – a request to which he replied: “Sure!”
Ivan said authorities called him on his work phone to inform him he was “engaged in discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” and was told to report to his local police.
Slamming the case as “idiotic”, Ivan said: “I struggle to imagine how a Zabaikalsk FSB officer in his forties re-typed my post with a straight face to add it to the case file. The thought is ridiculous!”
He added about sharing his dream online: “I thought – well, at least something funny, funny in the whole agenda.
“My (followers) laughed, said it was a cool dream. I didn’t even think that it (would attract the attention of the FSB – Russia’s federal security service.)”