A Russian court has begun considering a case against Vladimir Zhuravlev, a 66-year-old local historian and former municipal deputy, who faces charges of spreading "fake news" about the Russian military. Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for Zhuravlev, who was arrested in June 2025 and subsequently placed under house arrest.

Zhuravlev is accused of posting anti-war messages in a VKontakte group in April 2022, which authorities deemed to contain "knowingly false information" about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine. He admitted to writing the posts but denied acting out of hatred for the army, stating his anti-war stance stemmed from his parents' experiences during World War II.