On 6 April 2024, local journalist Antonida Smolina, who works in the city of Veliky Ustyug in Russia’s northern Vologda region, said that a complaint had been filed against her linked to a photo that she had earlier posted on her social media accounts. Smolina initially reported on the situation on her Vkontakte page on April 6, with Russian independent media picking up the topic several days later. In his complaint, a man identified as Valery Nikolayevich P., whom Smolina did not seem to know, allegedly claimed that the journalist had “discredited the Russian army” by publishing a photo of herself in a yellow coat with a blue sky in the background. The predominant colors in the photo would be references to those of the Ukrainian flag.
Smolina said that a police officer called her to conduct a verification procedure and that she needed to provide written explanation on the case. It did not seem that she would be fined in relation to the incident, or that a further investigation would be conducted. If found guilty of “discrediting the Russian army”, she would have faced a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles according to Russia’s code of administrative offences.