A student of Moscow State University was jailed for 10 days giving a wi-fi network a pro-Ukrainian slogan (Picture: Getty Images)
A Russian university student has been sentenced to 10 days in prison for renaming his wi-fi network with a pro-Ukrainian slogan.
The student at Moscow State University changed the network name to Slava Ukraini, the rallying cry of Ukrainian forces that translates to ‘Glory to Ukraine’.
The man was found guilty of a ‘public demonstration of Nazi symbolics… or symbols of extremist organisations, Ria-Novosti news agency reports.
It said that a police officer had reported the network name to authorities and the student was arrested in the Russian capital on Wednesday morning.
Officers had inspected his student room at the university and discovered his personal computer and a wi-fi router, according to court documents.
The court heard he had used the network to ‘promote the slogan “Slavi Ukraini!” to an unlimited number of users within the wi-fi range’.
Since the Russian offensive was launched in February 2022, officials have issued thousands of prison terms or fines against people publicly criticising the action or showing support for Ukrainian forces.
Police detain a woman who laid flowers for Alexei Navalny at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia last month (Picture: AP)
Russians are not even allowed to call the conflict a ‘war’, instead they must refer to is as a ‘special military operation’, the BBC reports.
Amnesty International said 21,000 people were targeted last year by Russia’s ‘repressive laws’ used to crack down on anti-war activists’.
The human rights charity spoke of ‘deeply unfair trials’ that were used to ‘dish out prison sentences and hefty fines to silence critics in response to the slightest dissent.’
Last month, hundreds of people were detained for laying flowers in memory of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in suspicious circumstances at an Arctic Circle prison.
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