Norin Aleksey Anatolevich

On May 23, 2024, in Kirov, a criminal case was opened against a 40-year-old local resident, Alexey Norin. He was accused of spreading "fakes" about the Russian army. The investigation considers the motive of political hatred and enmity as an aggravating circumstance. According to the investigation, from February 26 to March 11, 2024, Norin, being outside of Russia, systematically posted knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine on his page on the social network VKontakte. In particular, he published posts with photos and texts about targeted killings of civilians by Russian troops in Bucha, Irpin, and Borodyanka, about the destruction of the drama theater and maternity hospital in Mariupol, about mass graves in Izium, as well as about a drone attack on a residential building in Odesa that resulted in the deaths of civilians, including children. On September 25, 2022, Norin crossed the border of the Russian Federation in the area of the checkpoint "Verkhny Lars" and left for Georgia. The court issued an in absentia ruling to detain him in custody. On December 24, 2024, the Leninsky District Court of Kirov found Alexei Norin guilty and sentenced him to 5 years of imprisonment to be served in a general regime correctional colony. The court ruled that the term of serving the sentence should be calculated from the moment of his extradition or actual detention on the territory of the Russian Federation. February 20, 2025, the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Kirov Regional Court changed the verdict. The court excluded the application of Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the imposition of a milder punishment than provided for the given crime, and imposed an additional punishment on Norin in the form of deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the administration of websites on the Internet for 3 years. No later than September 2025, a second criminal case was initiated against Norin—he was included in the Rosfinmonitoring list as being involved in a crime of an extremist nature. The article under which the case was initiated, as well as the details of the charges, are unknown.