Russian Feminist Blogger Charged With ‘Inciting Hatred Toward Men’

Russian feminist blogger Lyubov Kalugina has been charged by the Putin government with “inciting hatred toward men on social media” under “anti-extremism laws,” The Moscow Times reports. “Criminal charges have been brought against Kalugina under Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code,” officials from the Investigative Committee’s Omsk branch told Russian media Wednesday. The 31-year-old now faces as much as five years in prison for the “incitement of national, racial, or religious enmity.” Kalugina had been under investigation for her posts on Russian social-media site VKontakte—some dating back to 2013. She told a watchdog group she was being investigated after an “anonymous man had complained that her posts insulted him as a male.” In an interview with Radio Free Europe last month, she said it was clear the investigators “just didn’t understand what or who was being discussed” and said majority of her posts consisted of “jokes or infighting with other feminists.”