The State Duma Committee supported the draft on punishment for discrediting the participants of the special operation

The State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation supported a bill providing for administrative and criminal liability for discrediting all participants in a special operation, informs TASS.

The amendments are proposed to be included in two bills. One of them provided for the introduction into the Code of Administrative Offenses of liability for the publication in the media of instructions for the manufacture of cartridges, and the second – criminal liability for illegal entry into a protected facility.

For public actions to discredit members of the SVO, including volunteers, they will face up to five years in prison, and for fakes about the activities of participants in a special operation that entailed serious consequences, up to 15 years and a fine of up to 5 million rubles.

On amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses on liability for discrediting participants in a special military operation earlier today informed Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. According to him, the initiative “will protect everyone who today, risking their lives, ensures the security of the country and our citizens.” The second reading of the amendments is scheduled for Thursday, March 2. If supported, the third, final reading will take place on Tuesday, March 14.

So far in the Kremlin did not to comment on the initiative, urging them to wait for the formulated text of the document. The amendments need to be worked out accordingly, stressed the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

Russia’s special operation in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. In March last year, the State Duma added several new articles to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses regarding the discrediting of the Russian army and fakes about the military. According to Art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation), the violator faces a fine of up to 100,000 rubles. Repeated violation entails criminal liability (up to 5 years in prison). The maximum penalty for violation of Art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fakes about the army) is 15 years in prison.