A Russian anti-government protester has been jailed and fined for violating wartime censorship laws with his tattoo of the viral phrase “Russian warship, go f**k yourself,” media reported Tuesday.
Authorities detained Stepan Zimin after pro-war bloggers published a video of him with the tattoo, which bears the phrase that became a rallying cry for Ukrainian resistance against Russia’s invasion.
Zimin was charged with petty hooliganism and “discrediting the Russian military,” both misdemeanor offenses.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court jailed Zimin for seven days for petty hooliganism and fined him 30,000 rubles ($340) for “discrediting” the army, according to the Ostorozhno Novosti Telegram news channel.
The outlet said pro-war bloggers published video footage of Zimin making an on-camera apology to Russian soldiers and promising to erase the tattoo, which he told the court he received “as an impulsive fool” two years ago.
Zimin previously served prison time for clashes during mass anti-Putin rallies in 2012.
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