A rare retreat. Russian investigators suddenly drop “fake news about the army” criminal case against children’s hospice founder Lida Moniava

Photo: Alexandra Astakhova / Mediazona

Russian authorities have dropped the criminal case alleging the spread of “fake news about the army” against Lida Moniava, the prominent director of the Lighthouse (“Dom s Mayakom”) children’s hospice, her defence team announced. She was arrested and charged in early September over a social media post marking the anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prompting crowds of supporters to gather outside the courthouse.

Today, an investigator informed defence lawyer Mikhail Biryukov that the case had been formally terminated due to the absence of the body of the crime. The official decree has been sent by post.

“This is a miracle of miracles. But it did not happen on its own—you made it happen,” Moniava’s support group wrote in a statement on Telegram. “Thank you to everyone who came to the court! A special thank you to the heroic patients of the Lighthouse who came to support Lida in wheelchairs and on mechanical ventilators. Thank you to everyone who wrote official letters in Lida’s defence and posted messages of support! Thank you to the journalists! Big thanks to everyone who prayed.”

This is an extremely rare reversal by the Russian investigative apparatus, especially against the record of near-total conviction rates in wartime censorship cases since the February 2022 invasion.

Investigators had initially charged Moniava under Paragraph “d”, Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code (spreading “fake news about the military” motivated by “political hatred”), an offence that carries a prison sentence of up to ten years.

Moniava’s Telegram post in question was published on February 24, 2023, the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion. In it, Moniava recounted the deaths of Ukrainian civilians killed in Russian strikes, including children and medical workers.

From Moniava’s Telegram post:

“For a year now, my country has been sending missiles, tanks, and soldiers into Ukraine. For a year, innocent people have been dying because of this.

In April, at Easter, Russia fired missiles at Odesa. A missile struck a block of apartments, killing three-month-old Kira, her mother, her grandmother, and many others. Her dad survived—he had gone out to the shop to buy an Easter cake at that exact moment. In July, Russia fired missiles at the city of Vinnytsia. Four-year-old Liza, a little girl with Down’s syndrome, was killed. She and her mother were on their way to a session with a developmental specialist. Many other people were also killed that day. In October, Russia fired missiles at Kyiv. Oksana Leontieva, a paediatric doctor who performed bone marrow transplants, was killed on her way to work.”

Moniava, who co-founded the Lighthouse children’s hospice and pioneered paediatric palliative care in Russia, had pleaded not guilty during interrogation.

Mediazona won’t survive without you

We are in a difficult position: we still haven’t recovered our pre-war funding levels. Our goal right now is to reach 7,500 subscriptions from international supporters. Only you, our readers, can save Mediazona

Donate now