The Russian security operatives have arrested a couple, identified as Olesya Ovchinnikova and Alexey Ovchinnikov for speaking out against Vladimir Putin’s war while having a family dinner in a restaurant.
According to a report, armed officers from the country’s national guard handcuffed Olesya, 42, and her boyfriend Alexey, 40, and forced them to the ground when a staff member at Krasnodar restaurant Na drovakh – or On Firewood reported their private conversation to the police.
After the officers handcuffed them, Ovchinnikova defiantly declared her full support for Ukraine in a video that could land her in jail for up to five years under draconian laws prohibiting criticism of Putin’s war.
“I’ll go all the way,” she said, undaunted, getting up from the floor while handcuffed.
“Hail to Ukraine! No, I will not shut my mouth. I won’t shut my mouth. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Zelensky….!”
She made fun of the young officer who was filming the video as evidence against her.
She continued: “Bunny, take the film, your mum will be proud of you, you’re so ******* good….,” she told him in footage released by the authorities.
“You’re a superhero…. What else can I say? I know you’re ashamed [detaining us for this], I know how ******* ashamed you are. I know at your young age how ******* ashamed you are of everything you do.”
After their arrest in the restaurant, the couple, with two minor daughters were taken to a police station.
According to the couple’s lawyer, Alexey Avanesyan, a court ordered the detention of her husband for 15 days.
She received a fine of 1,000 rubles [£12].
However, she will face further action after law enforcement drafted a protocol against her for allegedly discrediting the Russian army with her pro-Ukraine comments.
The maximum penalty is five years in prison.
While reacting to the incident, Putin’s former aide, Abbas Gallyamov, described the incident demonstrated as a sign of totalitarian government.
He said, “An important difference between authoritarianism and totalitarianism is that in the first case, the public expression of oppositional sentiments can be banned, but no one cares about the personal opinion expressed in private conversations.”
“Under totalitarianism, even words spoken in a personal conversation and not intended for other people’s ears are punishable.
“Russia is moving towards totalitarianism.”
“Judging by what happened in the Krasnodar restaurant, anyone can be declared a ‘critic of the regime’ based only on a private statement of some vigilant citizen,” he added.
