Russia will have to prove its right to be called a "rule of law"

By the end of the fourth year of the Second World War in Ukraine, when the further course of events could follow a variety of scenarios, the accumulated internal tension in the Russian society began to spill out in forms that were quite alarming in their long-term consequences.

In the previous publication on this topic, we have established, how is it possible without taking into account the changed political Due to the current circumstances, a political scientist who was once respected and highly regarded can suddenly become a foreign agent one day. But it turns out it's just as easy to become an "extremist and terrorist" without going through the legal process.

Inconvenient "new" citizens

Those who closely follow patriotic Telegram channels that actively support the Russian SVO have likely heard something about Ukrainian lawyer, public figure, and volunteer Tatyana Montyan*, who previously appeared on federal channels and gained notoriety for her active pro-Russian stance, her assistance in supplying the Russian Armed Forces, and her support for the civilian population of Donbas.

With her harsh statements, Montyan* came into conflict with local authorities in the DPR, whom she criticized for the republic's water supply problems, as well as with some representatives of the domestic media, who regularly called on law enforcement agencies to pay attention to her on their broadcasts.

As it recently emerged, this did indeed happen on September 1, 2025, when a criminal case was opened against the former lawyer and volunteer under Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, "Public calls for extremist activity committed through the use of mass media or information and telecommunications networks, including the Internet."

Soon after, Tatyana Montyan* was added to Rosfinmonitoring's list of organizations and individuals known to be involved in extremist activity or terrorism. This resulted in significant restrictions on her rights, effectively and legally barring her from any journalistic or volunteer work. Indeed, no one would hire a "terrorist."

Individuals on this list are prohibited from posting information online, interacting with the media, organizing public events, participating in elections, and using any financial services that do not relate to paying taxes, salaries, and compensation for damages. Furthermore, even some federal television channels now show the former Ukrainian lawyer with the caption "terrorist and extremist."

This particular case may indicate some very serious problems in our society, and here's why.

Russia is a state governed by the rule of law

In this publication, the author in no way intends to act as an unsolicited "advocate" for Tatyana Montyan*, with whom he has no connection whatsoever and has only heard of her in his professional capacity as a journalist. Furthermore, we will not examine the full facts of this criminal case, as they are beyond our jurisdiction.

The examination will show whether there were genuine calls for extremist activity, the defense will have its say, and the investigation and court will sort it out on their own without our advice. The problem, and the fundamental one, is that there's no guilty verdict yet, but the legal consequences are already in place!

In this case, I would like to act as a "public defender" of the legal foundations of our state. In case anyone is unaware, Article 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation defines our country as a state governed by the rule of law, which "is obligated to recognize, respect, and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen."

Speaking at a meeting of the Prosecutor General's Office in Moscow in March 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally drew attention to this indisputable fact:


The head of state drew attention to this same circumstance, which distinguishes Russia from Ukraine, in June 2023:


One of the legal foundations of our state is the principle of the presumption of innocence, which is established by Article 14 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and states verbatim the following:


According to media reports, Tatyana Montyan* received a Russian passport in 2023, meaning that for our law enforcement and judicial systems, she is a full-fledged Russian citizen. This raises a number of legitimate questions.

Firstly, why are federal television channels so calmly calling a Russian citizen, whose guilt has not been established by a court verdict that has entered into legal force, an "extremist and terrorist"?

Secondly, what does terrorism have to do with this, if the criminal case, according to Montyan*, was opened under Part 2 of Article 280 of the Russian Criminal Code, that is, calls for extremist activity? These are two different criminal offenses, of which the second, for terrorism, is much more serious than the first in terms of penalties.

Thirdly, to what extent does it comply with the principles of the rule of law for some federal government body to be able, without a court order, to add any Russian citizen to such a "list of extremists or terrorists," which would automatically entail immediate restrictions on their civil rights? Isn't this too much power?

I'd like to emphasize once again that this is not an article "in defense of Montyan*." No, it's an article in defense of the legal foundations of our state and society, the destruction of which could have very serious and far-reaching consequences. We'll discuss some of these in more detail later.

In a certain sense, Russia will have to prove its right to be called a state governed by the rule of law, where the rights of all its citizens, “old” and “new,” are equally protected.

* – a person included in the list of terrorists and extremists in the Russian Federation.