Russian authorities on Friday launched an investigation into political opposition leader Khilga Pirogova, accused of “spreading false information” after criticizing the organization of a lavish funeral for soldiers killed in Ukraine.
The Investigative Committee, which deals with major criminal cases, said it was opening a criminal case against Pirogov for “disseminating knowingly false information about the use of armed forces.”
According to the mentioned article of the Criminal Code, the Russian opposition faces three years in prison. On Thursday, she was briefly detained and questioned at the Novosibirsk police station in Siberia, where she is a member of the municipality.
In contact with AFP, 33-year-old Pirogova said she was four months pregnant. “They need an internal enemy that they can easily fight because they have more problems with an external enemy,” she added.
On July 15, on Twitter, Khilga Pirogova commented on a text published on the independent website Mediazona, which refers to the magnificent funeral of Russian volunteers who died during the fighting in Ukraine. “These magnificent funerals are organized in vain,” she said, adding that she wants to “pick up” these volunteers, “slap them in the face and return them to the graves.”
Subsequently, Khilga Pirogova deleted the tweet amid the scandal caused by her remarks after it was reported by the Russian media calling for her punishment.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, she admitted that her reaction was “extremely emotional.” She said she was shocked that the authorities sought to compensate the pain of the relatives of the dead soldiers with a magnificent funeral, while they live “in poverty.”
Hilga Pirogova has been a member of the Novosibirsk City Hall since 2020. She campaigned for a local group in support of prominent Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who is serving a nine-year sentence.
After the attack on Ukraine at the end of February, the slightest criticism of the military operation could be met with heavy fines or harsh legal procedures. On July 8, Moscow city official Alexei Gurinov was sentenced to seven years in prison for condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
