On 9 October 2025, Russian independent media reported that Russian authorities had opened a criminal case against Pavel Dmitriyev, a journalist at Pskovskaya Guberniya, accusing him of “repeated discrediting” of the Russian Armed Forces under Part 1, Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code.
According to investigators, the basis for the case was a YouTube Shorts video published on Pskovskaya Guberniya’s channel to mark the 1,000th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors claim Dmitriyev’s remarks in the clip contained “signs of persuading viewers of the negative nature of the goals pursued by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” Dmitriyev currently lives abroad.
Pskovskaya Guberniya is an independent media outlet from Russia’s Pskov region, which lies near the border with Estonia. The outlet’s team went into exile soon after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In August 2024, the Pskov City Court fined had already fined Dmitriyev 30 thousand rubles under the administrative version of the same article for another Pskovskaya Guberniya video, which authorities said contained statements “discrediting state bodies and the armed forces.”
The new charge elevates his case from administrative to criminal liability, continuing the pattern of Russian authorities using “discreditation” laws to suppress independent journalism and commentary about the war in Ukraine.