The number of politically motivated prosecutions under the article on the rehabilitation of Nazism has been growing since 2020, when law enforcement initiated 13 prosecutions. In 2024, the number of new such cases was already 60, writes 'OVD-Info'*.
The ban on the rehabilitation of Nazism has been in effect since the mid-2010s. According to Russian authorities, the law is intended to protect the memory of the Great Patriotic War. However, since the start of the full-scale invasion, this article has become one of the tools to combat anti-war protests.
Nevertheless, in practice, the subjects of such cases were most often people who unintentionally desecrated historical memorials. For example, cases were initiated due to dancing and drinking near the Eternal Flame or attempts by homeless people to warm themselves by it.
The latest known subject of a case on the rehabilitation of Nazism is blogger Arsen Markaryan, who became famous for his open disdain for women. It is likely that the case against him was initiated because of a video in which Markaryan insulted the Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Matrosov, who died in the Great Patriotic War, while the 'real man,' according to the misogynistic blogger, should 'toil for his wife and children.'
In June of last year, a case on 'rehabilitation of Nazism' was initiated against historian Tamara Eidelman*.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.