The Cost of Insulting Putin

In 2019, Russia amended a law on “petty hooliganism” to allow punishment for showing “disrespect to authorities.” Since then, nearly 400 persons have been put on trial for criticizing or mocking President Vladimir Putin, according to the independent outlet Verstka. Offenders can be fined or arrested for saying “Putin is a criminal” or for posting his portrait with a mourning ribbon.

Verstka found that, since 2019, at least 391 administrative cases of insulting the president have gone to court in Russia and annexed Crimea. At least 379 persons have faced charges, including 10 who were prosecuted repeatedly. Almost all were found guilty.

At least 12 people have served short jail terms for showing “disrespect” to Putin, while at least 332 have been fined.

All of the cases were classified as petty hooliganism. Most fell under Part 3 of Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code, which specifically allows prosecution for insulting authorities online. The provision was introduced in March 2019 by lawmakers from the ruling party Edinaya Rossiya ("United Russia").

Authorities have used the law aggressively, and the number of prosecutions has risen since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. Russians convicted of insulting Putin have collectively paid at least R11.6 million (about $140,000) in fines, Verstka reported. Penalties under Part 3 of Article 20.1 are steep, with a minimum of R30,000 ($370), nearly twice the subsistence minimum, and up to R100,000 ($1,250), roughly equivalent to the country’s average monthly wage.

One of the harshest fines, R250,000 ($3,100), was imposed on Konstantin Okunev, a former regional lawmaker, businessman, and opposition activist from Perm. According Verstka, he was fined three times for insulting Putin and several more times for allegedly inciting hatred toward the president and police.

The 250,000-ruble fine stemmed from a social media post in which Okunev wrote: “Putin, have you lost your mind? Give the country a chance to escape this darkness and hell you’ve driven it into over the 23 years of your criminal, senseless, and useless rule.”

Courts do not, in their deliberations, consider how many people may have seen the alleged insults. In the fall of 2024, a court in Russia’s Volgograd Oblast fined fish-lure maker Dmitry Vanifatiev R30,000 ($374). He had shared videos in a small (15 subscriber) Telegram channel, in which he criticized Putin in what the court described as “coarse, contemptuous, vulgar language.” At the time, the videos had between 14 and 20 views.

Sometimes, police open cases after denunciations by other citizens. In the winter of 2025, a cleaning woman at a public school in Stavropol, Nina Yakovleva, was fined R50,000 ($600). After drinking one evening, she sent several messages to a colleague that allegedly included insults against the colleague, the school, and the president. The colleague reported her to the police the next day.

Annexed Crimea has seen more prosecutions than other regions. Over the past 6 and a half years, at least 50 people were fined, and at least one was arrested for insulting Putin.