Helga Pirogova

A former deputy of the Novosibirsk City Council. A case was opened against her for spreading deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces because of an emotional tweet. Andrei Panferov, deputy chairman of the regional legislative assembly, appealed to the prosecutor's office with a demand to initiate the case. By this point, the tweet had already been deleted. On 21 July 2022, Pirogova was detained after a charity auction and taken to the police station to draw up a report under an administrative article on discrediting the army (part 1 of article 20.3.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). However, the next day the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, demanded to open a criminal case, which was done immediately. Pirogova left Russia. In June 2023, she was stripped of her deputy mandate.