The State Duma prepared amendments on punishment for discrediting volunteers and fighters of PMCs

The State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption has prepared amendments proposing to introduce liability for discrediting participants in hostilities, including “volunteer organizations assisting the RF Armed Forces,” as well as for publicly disseminating false information about them, said the head of the committee, Vasily Piskarev.

The head of the committee specified that amendments are proposed to be made to Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses and Articles 207.3 and 280.3 of the Criminal Code on behalf of State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. At the same time, he did not explain whether the Wagner PMC belongs to a voluntary organization, however, he stated that the founder of the PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, proposed the relevant changes to the legislation.

January 24 businessman published a letter in which he asked State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin to introduce an article into the Criminal Code on discrediting former convicts taking part in hostilities in Ukraine. In the letter, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in particular, proposed to ban any criticism of the participants in the military operation, as well as the publication of information about their past offenses with a penalty of imprisonment for up to five years.

January 25 Viacheslav Volodin declaredthat considered the appeal of the founder of the PMC. He said that he had instructed Andrey Kartapolov and Vasily Piskarev, chairmen of the committees on defense and security and combating corruption, to urgently study the possibility of making appropriate changes to the Criminal Code.

About what happens after the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, read online broadcasts “b”.

Erdni Kagaltynov