Aleksandr Sokolovsky is a political prisoner
A blogger from Zelenograd has been sentenced to four years’ compulsory work in a correctional facility on charges of ‘denigrating and insulting participants in the Special Military Operation’
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Aleksandr Sokolovsky a political prisoner. Sokolovsky was convicted on a charge of ‘inciting hatred and enmity on the internet and denigrating the dignity of a group of people with threats of violence’ for statements he made about Russian military personnel participating in the war against Ukraine. Sokolovsky’s criminal prosecution and conviction violated his rights to freedom of expression and a fair trial. We demand the immediate release of Aleksandr Sokolovsky and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.
What were the charges against Aleksandr Sokolovsky?
Aleksandr Sokolovsky ran a so-called ‘mukbang’ YouTube channel called ‘Sokol Zhret’ (The Falcon [a play on his name] Eats), posting videos of himself eating in front of the camera.
On 13 May 2024, Yekaterina Mizulina wrote on her Telegram channel that she had contacted the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the fact that Sokolovsky was, she alleged, ‘threatening participants in the Special Military Operation with violence in live broadcasts, saying that “only drunks” are going to the Special Military Operation, and calling for the collapse of Russia.’ The next day, the Investigative Committee reported that a criminal case had been opened against Sokolovsky on a charge of inciting hatred and denigrating the dignity of a group of people with the threat of violence (Article 282, Part 2[a], CC RF) for ‘negative and offensive comments about participants in the Special Military Operation.’
Sokolovsky was detained and a video of his apology was published in which he stated that he had been drunk at the time of the stream. On 15 May, Sokolovsky was remanded in custody. A linguistic assessment claimed that Sokolovsky’s statements contained ‘signs of threats aimed at denigrating the dignity and insulting participants in the Special Military Operation, inciting hatred and enmity.’ In November 2024, his name was added to the list of terrorists and extremists maintained by Rosfinmonitoring.
On 10 April 2025, Aleksandr Sokolovsky was sentenced to four years of compulsory work at a correctional facility. The prosecutor appealed the sentence and demanded that the blogger be sent to a penal colony for five years. However, on 23 July 2025 the court of appeal left the sentence unchanged.
Why do we consider Aleksandr Sokolovsky a political prisoner?
Aleksandr Sokolovsky’s criminal prosecution is yet another example of the use of the law on inciting hatred and enmity as an instrument of political repression. This law is mainly used by the Russian authorities to prosecute dissidents for speech.
There are no grounds to consider ‘participants in the Special Military Operation’ as a separate social group in need of protection. It is also incorrect to classify Sokolovsky’s statements as ‘threats of violence.’ For a threat to exist, it must be established that the threat was real and that there were grounds to fear that violence could be carried out. Sokolovsky’s statements during a stream while intoxicated can hardly be considered real threats. There is no reason to believe that Sokolovsky intended to use violence against ‘participants in the Special Military Operation’ or that any Russian military personnel were afraid of this. Therefore, even if Sokolovsky’s actions were to be considered an offence, this would only be under administrative law.
A detailed description of Aleksandr Sokolovsky’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
If you have information about the correctional facility in which Aleksandr Sokolovsky is being held, please let us know by email at [email protected]
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
