Angelina Mkhitaryan

A resident of the Chuguevsky District of Primorsky Krai, a supporter of the “citizens of the USSR” movement. On 30 May 2024, she was remanded in custody on charges of calling for terrorist activity in connection with a video posted on a YouTube channel titled “Digitalisers led by MAKSUDSHADAEV should be impaled”. In the video, lawyer and former deputy head of the State and Legal Directorate of the Moscow City Duma, Marina Maslennikova, who actively opposes “digitalisation” as part of what she views as a conspiracy against Russia, criticised the policies of the Ministry of Digital Development and its head, Maksut Shadaev. At the same time, she did not use aggressive rhetoric.

Later, Mkhitaryan was released from custody for health reasons. The case was sent back for additional investigation. After that, based on the same video, Mkhitaryan was charged under another article — for calls to extremism.

On 8 August, the court sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony.

Earlier, Mkhitaryan had been charged with making threats of murder or grievous bodily harm, threats or violent actions against judicial officials, and the use of violence against a representative of authority. The charges stemmed from a scandal that Mkhitaryan and an associate caused on the premises of a magistrates’ court, demanding to be allowed to see the justice of the peace: during a scuffle, Mkhitaryan grabbed a bailiff by the genitals. In April 2023, she was found guilty only under the article on the use of violence against a representative of authority and sentenced to two years’ suspended imprisonment. We have no grounds to consider this case to be politically motivated.