A Russian court today placed a well-known director of a humanitarian organisation for sick children under judicial supervision, after being accused of criticizing the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine and could be sentenced to ten years in prison.
© Arkadii Budnitskii/Anadolu via Getty Images
03/09/2026
by
Lusa
ANDm reported, the Moscow court press service indicated that Lida Moniava will remain under judicial supervision until at least 30 October.
The humanitarian worker cannot leave the house between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., use the Internet or speak to witnesses in the case, has revealed her lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, to the France-Presse (AFP) agency.
Moniava, 38, was arrested in Moscow on Wednesday, questioned and accused of “spreading false information” about the Russian army.
This crime, introduced into the penal code a few days after the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is part of the legal arsenal used to silence critical voices about the conflict in Russia.
After the hearing, dozens of people gathered in front of the court gates applauded the defendant while she was released, according to an AFP journalist present at the scene.
In Russia, in cases like this, suspects usually stay in custody until the trial, and the court decision was therefore concluded.
The activist told the press that she would continue to work and hold meetings, but without using a computer, not to violate the terms of her security.
“ The investigators spent hours trying to convince me to plead guilty. But I don't feel guilty. I want the war to end as soon as possible,” he stressed.
Followed by tens of thousands of people on social networks, this humanitarian worker founded a palliative care centre for children in Moscow.
He also created a charity fund for sick children, the mayak.help, which until recently also helped Ukrainian refugees in Russia.
The Russian investigation committee accused Moniava of “publicly disseminating false information on the Telegram on the actions of the Russian Armed Forces against the civilian population in Ukraine.”.
According to his lawyer, the prosecution refers to a message that his client published on Telegram on 24 February 2023, the first anniversary of the beginning of the conflict, in which he reported thousands of civilian victims in Ukraine, citing UN statistics and asking for help for Ukrainian refugees in Russia.
The human rights organization Amnesty International believes that these lawsuits against “one of Russia’s leading leaders of solidarity organisations” aim to silence all civil society.