On March 18, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a law punishing up to seven years in prison for “discrediting” participants in the war against Ukraine, including volunteers.

This is reported by RosSMI. Also, now the article about “fake” in relation to the occupiers also applies to volunteers, the maximum punishment for it is up to 15 years in prison, Channel 24 reports.

Also, the Russian dictator signed a law according to which the Ukrainian citizenship of those wishing to obtain Russian citizenship will be considered terminated from the day the application for withdrawal from it is submitted to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

For the whole of 2022, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office registered 187 “crimes” under the article on the spread of “fake news”. Until the end of last year, according to various media reports, Russian courts received more than 5,500 protocols on administrative offenses for “discrediting”. In the fall of 2022, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 100 criminal cases were initiated to “discredit” the Russian army.

There is information about 148 defendants in criminal cases on the spread of “fake news” and 60 defendants in criminal cases on “discrediting”.

Putin's Arrest Warrant Essentials

• On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the situation in Ukraine. They also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of Russia.
• The court ruled because of the likely responsibility for a war crime, namely the illegal deportation of children.
• That is, now the Russian dictator has the right to arrest on the territory of 122 countries of the world that have ratified the Rome Charter. We are talking about virtually all European countries, Canada, Japan and some African states.
• The representative of the International Criminal Court, Fadi El-Abdallah, said that their decision provides more rights to Ukraine. In particular, Kyiv may demand from the states recognizing the ISS that Vladimir Putin and Lvovo-Belova be immediately arrested.
• The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the decisions of the International Criminal Court do not matter to Russia. After all, Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and does not bear obligations under it.
• Vice Prime Minister, UK Attorney General Dominic Raab said London would assist the International Criminal Court in its investigations to prosecute those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.