Russian flight attendant jailed 7 yrs for ‘fake news’
A Russian flight attendant who had jokingly promised to "invite the Ukrainian army for tea" if they reached Moscow has been sentenced to seven years in prison on November 23 for spreading "false information" about the Russian armed forces, according to EFE.
"The court found Varvara Volkova guilty under (...) Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code (public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces motivated by political hatred) and sentenced her to seven years in prison," the Vidnoye municipal court in the Moscow region announced.
Russian judicial authorities stated that Volkova, a flight attendant for Ural Airlines, allegedly defamed a Russian tank operator fighting in Ukraine during a phone conversation after he appeared on television.
Volkova had published several messages in a chat for the Sopronovo district in the Moscow region, through which she allegedly spread false information about the Russian army, the judge asserted.
In one of the messages, she claimed she would "invite the Ukrainian army for tea" if they were to conquer the Moscow region.
"She argued that the Russian armed forces are committing acts of violence with the aim of killing Ukrainian civilians," stated the court’s press release, as quoted by Euronews.
Volkova had already been fined twice in February for "discrediting" the Russian army and displaying banned symbols, totaling 31,000 rubles (approximately $392). The first fine was for reporting the deaths of Ukrainian acquaintances, and the second was for writing the slogan "Glory to Ukraine!" in one of the chats.
The woman lost her job a few months later and was eventually arrested.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
