Affiliated media: Bellingcat, Editorial office

Incident date: May 19, 2021

Attack type:

• request to remove or block the article and/or refutation

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Mediazona

Location: Russia, Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg

Additional information:

The Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg ordered the investigative group Bellingcat and journalist Pieter van Huis to pay RUB 340,000 to Igor Bezler, commander of one of the units of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, on a claim for the protection of honour and dignity. Bezler demanded to pay him RUB 500,000, as well as to publish a refutation. The court satisfied the latter demand, but reduced the amount of compensation for moral damage. The Bellingcat Foundation and the private company Bellingcat were charged RUB 150,000 each, and the journalist was charged RUB 40,000.