In September 2022, just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a nationwide mobilization for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 55-year-old Aleksei Semyonov went to the local House of Culture in his village of Izhma in Russia's northern Komi Republic.
The building was the gathering spot for the first 40 men from the village mobilized for Putin's war, and Semyonov left a filled trash bag on the steps with the word "ZOO" written on it in the Ukrainian colors of yellow and blue, a slogan ridiculing the "Z" symbol embraced by Russia's war machine and its supporters.
Semyonov, a trained pediatrician and environmental activist, is now facing up to three years in prison on charges of "discrediting Russia's armed forces" with the stunt, a photo of which he posted on social media with the caption "Izhma rehearses greeting Cargo 200," a reference to the Russian term for those killed in action.
Semyonov's trial date in the Izhma District Court has yet to be set, but he says he has already refused offers by supporters for a lawyer, adding that he agrees with investigators' conclusions about his "motives and methods."
"The only thing is, I consider the statute for which I am being prosecuted illegitimate and unjust," he told RFE/RL's North.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Russian Service. "So prosecute me. I am completely guilty under this absurd law."
Semyonov, whom the venerable Russian human rights group Memorial has already designated a political prisoner, is among the hundreds of Russians who have been charged for their anti-war positions under a range of criminal statutes, including newly introduced laws criminalizing what Russian authorities deem "discrediting" or spreading "false" information about the military.
Semyonov told RFE/RL that he had hoped to send a message about Russia's invasion of Ukraine that would get through to the residents of the village, which he describes as mostly supportive of Putins' war.
"I really did want to make our Izhma men doubt the necessity of participating in this fratricidal war, and I do not reject my intentions," he said.
'Putin Will Be Executed'
Semyonov says his opposition to Putin has triggered both personal and professional rifts in his life, including with his mother and, more recently, with the recycling center in Izhma that he started and that had provided him with a steady income.
He says his partners in the recycling center have refused to work with him over his anti-war activism and that, after he called for a boycott of Putin's mobilization and after the criminal case against him, his partners took over the business so as "not to discredit the entire recycling center among pro-war residents."
After Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Semyonov was twice arrested and fined after being found guilty of "discrediting" the Russian armed forces. He refused to pay the 30,000 ruble fine ($367) not only because he didn't have the money, but also because he did not want to "finance a criminal war," he told RFE/RL.
On September 28, 2022, he was arrested after disrupting an event at the same House Of Culture from which the village men were sent off for mobilization days earlier. He said that he yelled: "Putin will be executed for sending Izhma residents off to a fratricidal war."
Semyonov was quickly taken to court and handed a five-day sentence for failure to pay the earlier fine on the "discreditation" charge. He was also hit with the current charge he faces, which is punishable by up to three years in prison.
'Pretend You're Dead'
Semyonov says he is hoping for a suspended sentence in his criminal case due to his confession to the "discreditation" charge under a law that rights watchdogs say is aimed at stifling opposition to the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.
He told RFE/RL that he does not intend to flee Russia, saying he would not be capable of finding work anywhere else, and that his wife refuses to leave.
Semyonov is also the father of three sons of mobilization age, one of whom has already been fined for participating in an anti-war protest and wants to leave Russia.
According to Semyonov, his sons are attempting to live off the grid to avoid being mobilized and are hiding from periodic raids to locate draft-age men by moving around in taxis.
"I tell them: 'You don't need to go anywhere. If they are going to forcibly mobilize, pretend your dead,'" Semyonov said. "The government doesn't need dead people."
