The home of Lidia Moniava, the head of a Russian charity that provides palliative care for children, was searched on Sept. 2, Novaya Gazeta writes. According to the outlet, Moniava was taken to the Investigative Committee and is being questioned as part of a case centered on accusations of “spreading fake news” about the Russian military (Article 207.3, Part 2, of the Criminal Code). The state-owned news agency TASS, citing Moniava’s lawyer, has confirmed that she is being held by the Investigative Committee over a case of “spreading fake news” but stresses that Moniava is “not officially detained.”
This past February, a court fined Moniava, the head of the Lighthouse Charity Foundation, 45,000 rubles ($500) for the administrative offense of “discrediting” the army by making three posts on Telegram.
In February 2022, shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moniava signed an open letter to Vladimir Putin in which representatives of Russian NGOs called for an end to the war. Moniava’s social media accounts regularly featured posts reflecting on the war (which she calls a war, not a “special military operation” — itself is grounds for possible criminal charges) and on the repression taking place in Russia. In June, Moniava wrote that she had disconnected her doorbell because of anxiety:
“In Russia we have our own triggers — the sound of a doorbell or a knock at the door. I’ve heard this from many friends and acquaintances who have had people ‘come for’ them, or who are afraid that people ‘will come for’ them. After such visits I asked friends never to ring my doorbell, but to message me on WhatsApp when they’d arrived. Then I disconnected the doorbell entirely, so that it would never ring again, because every courier delivery resulted in panic.”
Moniava also wrote that she had visited Alexei Navalny’s grave on his birthday:
“Unfortunately, very few voices inside Russia now speak out for the truth and against the war. That’s why each voice carries such a high price. And that road leads to prison. And, increasingly often, to the cemetery.”
As Moniava's lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told the Slovo v Zashchitu project, the investigation intends to arrest her. According to Biryukov, the criminal case was opened over a 2023 Telegram post marking the anniversary of Russia’s invasion. The head of the children's hospice faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian military, motivated by political hatred.
