Russians wrote almost 145,000 denunciations in six months, most of them over “war fakes”

Roskomnadzor has reported 144,835 “complaints” written by individuals in the first half of 2022. Most of the denunciations were related to the war in Ukraine: Russians complained about “fakes” connected with the actions of the Russian military and about “pro-Ukrainian propaganda.”

Roskomnadzor received the most denunciations in March, when the war had just begun, 10,323 complaints, a number four times higher year-on-year.

In annual terms, the number of denunciations has increased by a quarter.

With the outbreak of war, the Stalinist “snitch” culture fully “blossomed” in Russia. Administrative and criminal cases connected with “discrediting” and “fakes” about the Russian army are often initiated following denunciations. For example, the St. Petersburg artist and activist Sasha Skochilenko is currently in jail for replacing store price tags with anti-war propaganda; she was denounced by a pensioner. There are cases of denunciations written by close relatives. A Moscow region resident denounced his wife to the police because she criticized the war, and a Muscovite denounced her own son for dodging the draft in the time of the “special operation”.

In August a Moscow region resident denounced himself: he said he painted the wall of his house blue and yellow and wrote “No to War” while being drunk. Then he allegedly realized his guilt and decided to turn himself in to the police.