Odesa resident's sentence reduced three times for calling to create "Russian Odesa Republic"

The Court of Cassation has reduced the prison term for a woman convicted in Odesa for encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, public calls for violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order and justification of Russian aggression.

The judges reduced the sentence from three to one year in prison, 368.media reported.

The three-year sentence was imposed by the Prymorskyi Court of Odesa. The woman was the administrator of a pro-Russian Telegram channel. The accused pleaded guilty in court, explained that she had succumbed to Russian propaganda (she watched Russian channels and spent her childhood in Russia), stopped publishing, sincerely repented and planned to go to a volunteer center.

The court took into account mitigating circumstances, the absence of aggravating circumstances, the presence of a minor child, the absence of previous convictions and a material motive. At the same time, the court emphasized the gravity of the crimes in the context of the full-scale invasion of Russia and martial law, the need for punishment and the educational function of punishment.

Calling for an uprising

The main episodes of the prosecution were the following facts: On June 14, 2022, at 17:47, the accused published a post about the creation of the "Russian Odesa Republic", calls to take up arms, go to rallies against the authorities, join the Russian Federation, "burn out the Ukro-fascists", accompanied by the "flag and coat of arms of the Odesa Republic".

Another post on the same day at 18:00 called on residents of "Novorossiya" to rise up against the "bloodthirsty Kyiv authorities" and "burn the Ukro-fascists" with a map of Ukraine without Crimea and a map of the Russian Federation.

A number of publications from May 19 to June 14 contained denials of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation (since 2014), the temporary occupation of the territories, the spread of Russian narratives about the "liberation" of cities, glorification of the Russian military, for example, about the "victory" in Mariupol, the "liberation" of Severodonetsk, the use of kamikaze drones "Kub" and "Lancet".

Кирило Бойко