Blogger Earlier Fined For Dream About Ukraine Gets Another Fine For Giving Interviews

A man in Russia's eastern Zabaykalsky region who was previously fined for posting a dream he had about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky online has been penalized again for publicly speaking about the ordeal, according to reports.

The Central District Court in Zabaykalsky's administrative capital of Chita found local sauna owner and blogger Ivan Losev guilty of two counts of "discrediting" the Russian army Tuesday, Mediazona reported.

It imposed two fines amounting to 35,000 Russian rubles ($490) on Losev following the decision, according to the independent Russian media outlet.

Amendments to Russia's Criminal Code that were signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March last year made "discrediting" the country's armed forces punishable by up to five years imprisonment.

Chita's Central District Court found Losev guilty of the same charge back in December 2022 and fined him 30,000 rubles ($420) over his posts on Instagram, one of which was about a dream he had that involved Ukraine's head of state.

In his dream, which appeared right after Russia announced troop mobilization on Sept. 21 last year, Losev said he encountered Ukrainian forces after he was called up for service and brought to a training camp.

"[T]he Armed Forces of Ukraine headed by Zelensky burst in, everyone was detained, and they were going to shoot us, and at that moment Zelensky passed by me and said: 'Oh, I saw your stories on Instagram. Glory to Ukraine!' I answered: 'Glory to the Heroes!' Zelensky happily patted me on the shoulder and said: 'OK, let him go, and shoot all the others,'" Losev's post read.

"Slava Ukraini," translated as "Glory to Ukraine" in English, is a popular Ukrainian salute that is often accompanied by the response, "Heroiam slava," or "Glory to the heroes!"

The new charges against Losev were brought against him after he gave interviews discussing the first fine to independent Russian television channel TV Rain and the United Kingdom's national broadcaster, the BBC.

Losev uploaded the BBC interview on his Instagram page, and the two different women, one from Chita and another from the region of Primorsky, reported him to authorities over the public appearances.

"One did not like my broadcast on [TV Rain]. Another didn't like the BBC video in my [Instagram] feed," Losev told Sibir.Realii, which is an affiliate of the United States government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

In a similar story, the Central District Court of Chita also found Losev's mother, Nelly Loseva, guilty of "discrediting" the Russian army and fined her 30,000 rubles because she "liked" a post on the Russian social network platform Odnoklassniki about Russian soldier deaths in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.