Pleading for Help, Punished Instead

Russian citizens alarmed by environmental disasters, crumbling housing, and lack of infrastructure are increasingly turning to President Vladimir Putin with public video appeals. However, instead of receiving help, some are facing police scrutiny, fines, and even criminal charges, according to the independent outlet Okno (The Window).

On May 23, 2025, Anastasia Sholokhova from Bratsk, in Irkutsk Oblast, was fined R35,000 (approximately $450) for “discrediting the Russian armed forces.” The charge stemmed from a video in which Sholokhova and about 20 residents of a dilapidated apartment building document its condition and appeal to Putin and other officials.

The video, posted in March 2025, shows crumbling staircases and warped walls with missing windows. But police focused only on the final few seconds, where Sholokhova is heard off-camera saying: “This is what NATO envies us for. This is what NATO is after. You're out there protecting someone on foreign soil — but who will protect us?”

The apartment building was declared uninhabitable over a decade ago, but relocation has repeatedly been delayed. Residents said that, after filing complaints with the prosecutor’s office and the Investigative Committee, authorities began offering them rooms in rundown dormitories or apartments in equally unsafe buildings. Police have also summoned other residents for questioning.

Similar cases have emerged across the country.

In April, blogger Yuri Ozarovsky filmed oil-covered rocks on a beach in Alushta, and posted the video online. The next day, police detained him and held him for 24 hours. A court later fined him R15,000 (about $200) for “misusing media freedom.” Authorities also forced him to post a retraction, claiming the substance on the beach was not oil but mastic, a natural resin.

In another April incident, Janosh Malinovsky from Frolovo in the Volgograd Oblast recorded a video showing thick black smoke rising from a local steel plant. Speaking on behalf of residents, he described how people have lived for decades with polluted air, unable to open windows even at night, and benches covered in soot. The video was addressed to Putin and Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin.

In response, Mayor Vasily Dankov filed a police complaint accusing Malinovsky of holding an “unauthorized rally” — referring to the video. He also threatened the activist directly. “Time to have you shot for stirring up the people,” Dankov allegedly wrote.

A similar charge was used against Lyudmila Bagirova, from Rostov Oblast. On April 21, she recorded a video in front of the Semikarakorsky district administration building. In the video, 14 women are holding signs that read “Remove the oil sludge” and “Our only hope is you.” They urged Putin to address a crisis at the waste site near Semikarakorsk.

Following a December 15, 2024, tanker accident in the Kerch Strait during a storm, sand contaminated with fuel oil was trucked en masse to a landfill in Semikarakorsk. Bagirova’s video shows a pit with darkened soil and a stream being buried by an excavator. She appealed to Putin for an independent environmental assessment.

Bagirova said earlier that complaints about the transportation of chemicals from the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, as well as from the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, went unanswered.

The video was shared by Rostov-on-Don city council member Natalia Oskina. Two days later, police informed Bagirova that she was under investigation for organizing an unauthorized protest. Bagirova and other participants believe the complaint was filed by Deputy District Head Elena Raskoryaka.

“While we were still filming, Raskoryaka came out of the administration building and accused us of holding an illegal protest,” said one participant. “We told her: ‘We don’t have banners, megaphones, or a crowd. This is not a rally.’ She yelled at us and walked away.”

Eventually, authorities opened an administrative case against Bagirova for violating rules on public gatherings. The case was dropped in early May after intervention from Council Member Oskina.

“If it weren’t for her support, they would’ve crushed Lyuba like the rest of us,” said one woman from the group.

Oskina believes media attention played a key role in halting the prosecution. “I think the press coverage helped. That’s what led them to drop the charges,” she said.

Bagirova recalled that many people supported her during the ordeal, but few believed it would end well. “They came by my workplace, called, asked questions — they cared,” she told local media. “But most people are afraid. They’ve lost faith in justice.”