Pavel Verbitsky

Resident of Urai, a pensioner, a former serviceman, was nominated by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation for the election of deputies of the local Duma. In September 2022, police came to him with a seizure order. Verbitsky told OVD-Info that the investigative actions were connected with comments on the Internet, because of which he had already been [fined] (https://t.me/ovdinfolive/7863) under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). In these comments, according to the court in an administrative case, Verbitsky compared the Russian military with orcs and fascists, and the Z symbol with an inscription on a street toilet. He later told Republic media that he received a phone call before the seizure and was told that someone had hit his car. When Verbitsky went out into the street, he was detained and put face down on the asphalt. After the seizure, he was taken to the Investigative Committee, where they promised that they would not initiate him to a criminal case. He went to the Altai Krai for a week to stay with relatives, and on the way back, during a transfer in Tyumen, he was again detained and taken to the FSB headquarters. There, Verbitsky was informed that a criminal case had been initiated against him because of various comments against the war, including a poem that he published in the “Black Uray” group on VKontakte. After interrogation, he was released under recognizance not to leave. Verbitsky has left Russia.