Russian coffee shop owner charged with ‘discrediting the army’ after asking veteran to leave premises

A Russian coffee shop owner was charged with “discrediting” the army and fined 45,000 rubles ($489) after she asked a veteran of the war in Ukraine to leave the premises, reports the Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti.

The channel refers to the owner of the coffee shop in Lyubertsy, a city outside Moscow, as Alena P. On the Lyubertsy City Court website, there is a corresponding case file on a woman named Alena Polyakevich.

Last week, Polyakevich wrote on social media that a “war veteran” came to her coffee shop and “began to behave, to put it mildly, not very well.” According to her, she “resolved the situation in two minutes without shouting, swearing, or anything else.” “I simply asked him to leave the premises,” she said.

After this, Z-bloggers and pro-government activists began complaining about her. A screenshot of Polyakevich’s post appeared in the Telegram channel of Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the founder of the Russian far-right hate group Male State. The pro-government organization Russian Community also wrote about Polyakevich and demanded she be investigated for “financing the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” reported Mediazona.

According to the Russian Community post, their activists came to the coffee shop with veterans, called the police, and wrote a “collective statement.” After this, Polyakevich was arrested, reported Ostorozhno, Novosti.