Tolmachyova Lyudmila Viktorovna

On August 9, 2022, in Moscow, the Cheryomushkinsky Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate for the South-Western Administrative District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow opened a criminal case about "fakes" about the Russian army on the grounds of political hatred against Lyudmila Tolmacheva. The reason for the criminal prosecution was posts on Instagram about the death of high-ranking Russian military personnel and the killing of civilians in Ukraine. One of the posts was dedicated to the head of the Ukrainian village of Motyzhin Olga Sukhenko, her husband and son. They were abducted, tortured and killed in late March 2022. Another post spoke of "the killing of civilians" in the Ukrainian city. The matter may concern the killings in Bucha. Additionally, Tolmacheva wrote about losses that the Ministry of Defense did not acknowledge. On October 5, 2022, Tolmacheva was put on the international wanted list, and on October 7, the Cheryomushkinsky District Court of Moscow decided to send her to a pre-trial detention center in absentia. The defendant herself left Russia. On December 26, 2023, Judge Dzhemal Kurbanov of the Gagarin District Court of Moscow sentenced Lyudmila Tolmacheva in absentia to 8.5 years in a general regime colony. She was also prohibited from administering websites for 4.5 years.