Comments about the Taliban and migrants led to a fine for a Rostov resident.

A court in Rostov-on-Don fined 19-year-old Yegor Akatyshev ten thousand rubles for inciting hatred in social media comments. One of the grounds for prosecution was a comment about the Taliban having no place in Russia.

According to the Oktyabrsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, Akatyshev posted comments on VKontakte that incited hatred or hostility based on ethnicity. He did not delete these comments, which were freely available online.

Under the post "Today, animal rights activists protested against the euthanasia of stray dogs," he left a comment calling for violence against migrants. Akatyshev also commented on the post "The Taliban will be filled with grenades, raisins, Coca-Cola, carpets, and cotton." The court found his comment to be inciting hatred between the people of the Russian Federation and Afghanistan, the Oktyabrsky District Court reports on its website.

He also called for damage to migrants' property in a comment on a post about a migrant who shot a dog.

At the court hearing, Yegor Akatyshev pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his offense, according to the court ruling.

The court found him guilty of inciting hatred or enmity 1 and sentenced him to an administrative fine of 10,000 rubles. According to the case file on the court's website, the case was received for consideration on June 5, and on the same day, Judge Goncharov issued a ruling imposing an administrative penalty.

"Caucasian Knot" also wrote that journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova was charged with justifying terrorism due to two publications on her Telegram channel: a repost of a text by journalist Orhan Dzhemal from 2010 about the attack on Nalchik and a publication about the Taliban movement, which at the time was included on the list of terrorist organizations.

The prosecutor demanded that Kevorkova be sentenced to six years in prison and a fine, but the court only imposed a fine of 600,000 rubles. The lawyer stated that the defense would not appeal the verdict, since "it was effectively an acquittal." The prosecution also did not challenge the verdict, and it entered into force. Kevorkova's son organized a fundraiser to pay the fine on March 13, 2025, and the required amount was collected the very next day.

Moreover, on April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court of Russia suspended the ban on the Taliban movement. The suspension of the ban means that criminal cases for justifying terrorism related to the Taliban must be dismissed, stated Kevorkova's lawyer.