The court, contrary to the defense's arguments, deemed the criminal prosecution of Melnychenko lawful.

The court in Volgograd refused to cancel the ruling on the initiation of a criminal case against lawyer Roman Melnychenko. The lawyer's status as a suspect implies a special procedure for criminal prosecution, which was not followed in Melnychenko's case, the defense indicated.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in July, former lecturer at Volgograd State University, lawyer and expert in international law Roman Melnychenko was arrested due to a post on social media, which the authorities interpreted as discrediting the army.

Today, a hearing took place in the Central District Court of Volgograd regarding the defense's complaint about the ruling on the initiation of a criminal case and its acceptance for proceedings (dated July 20, 2026). The hearing involved lawyer Dmitry Sotnikov, an investigator, and a prosecutor. Roman Melnychenko communicated via video conference. The presiding judge was Irina Palchinskaya, as reported by a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot"

The lawyer reminded the court that on July 20, investigator Bilenko issued a ruling on the initiation of a criminal case against Roman Melnychenko and its acceptance for proceedings based on the signs of a crime provided for in part 1 of article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The grounds for initiating the criminal case were reports from the senior operative officer for particularly important cases of the regional FSB and the report from the head of the Central Forensic Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the investigation, Melnychenko committed four "episodes of public actions": on the evening of September 9, 2025, "while at his residence, he posted on the video hosting channel YouTube a video material titled 'September 10 - Day of the Deportation of the Ukrainian People.'" Then, on September 10, 14, and 17, he posted in the community "International Law" on the social network VKontakte publications titled 'Deportation of the Ukrainian People 2025 (Decree No. 159),' 'History of Deportations,' and a material starting with the words 'International Regulation, Deportation...'.

"The content of the actions is described in the contested ruling for all four actions with the same wording: 'in which the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, carried out within the framework of the special military operation, are assessed by him as criminal, aggressive, containing justification for a negative assessment, and the fact of using the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the purposes of maintaining peace and security is denied.' Specific statements in which, according to the investigation, discrediting was expressed are not provided in the ruling," noted lawyer Sotnikov in court.

The defense also pointed out that all subsequent procedural decisions and actions are based on the contested ruling: Melnychenko's detention and the search of his apartment with the seizure of computer equipment and electronic media (July 21); the next day, the Central District Court chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention for Roman, and on July 27, Melnychenko was charged as a defendant.

Lawyer Dmitry Sotnikov presented a number of arguments from the defense side to the court. The main argument is that the criminal case was initiated by an unauthorized official. Melnychenko holds the status of a lawyer, and the decision to initiate a criminal case against a lawyer is made by the head of the investigative body of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the subject of the Russian Federation, according to article 448 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation ('Initiation of a Criminal Case').

"Melnychenko is a lawyer of the Volgograd Regional Bar Association. Currently, his status as a lawyer is suspended, but not terminated. No decision has been made to terminate Melnychenko's status as a lawyer, and no information about the termination of his status has been entered into the Unified State Register of Lawyers," Sotnikov stated to the court.

He called the police officers leading this case individuals "completely devoid of procedural competence" to "initiate a criminal case against a lawyer."

"Neither the ruling itself nor the materials presented to the court when resolving the issue of the measure of restraint contain a decision from the head of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Volgograd region... Therefore, the issuance of the ruling on July 20 by the deputy head of the 1st department of the Main Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Captain of Justice I.A. Bilenko, represents a direct and unequivocal overstepping of the powers granted to him by the Criminal Procedure Code," the lawyer stated.

The judge did not satisfy the request for a query to the Constitutional Court

During the discussion, the prosecution referred to the norms of Federal Law No. 63-FZ "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation," which discusses the suspension of a lawyer's status. Based on these provisions of the law, investigators conducted Melnychenko's detention, a search in his apartment, and then brought charges against him. At the same time, the investigator referred to some letter received by the agency from the Ministry of Justice, which provided clarifications on this issue.

The lawyer, in turn, pointed out the legal collision in Melnychenko's case - the contradiction between the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code and Federal Law No. 63. "The suspension of a lawyer's status does not cancel his guarantees at all. I suggested to the judge to make a request to the Constitutional Court (on this collision). But the judge, as expected, denied us (in satisfying the request)," Dmitry Sotnikov told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" after the hearing.

During the hearing, the lawyer expressed the following opinion: "The suspension represents only a temporary measure, depriving the lawyer of special active legal capacity in terms of directly providing qualified legal assistance (prohibition on representation in court, drafting complaints on behalf of clients, sending lawyer's requests). However, the individual does not lose the status of a lawyer, is not deprived of the professional title, and is not excluded from the state register maintained by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation."

In relation to the lawyer, due to the suspension of status, the action of guarantees provided only by the Federal Law "On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation" is suspended. At the same time, the special procedure for initiating a criminal case, including against a lawyer, is not enshrined in this law, but in a separate act - the Criminal Procedure Code. And the Criminal Procedure Code categorically prohibits the application of federal law that contradicts the Code, insists Sotnikov.

The defense side listed other violations identified in the investigation's work, such as violations of the rules of jurisdiction, violations of the procedure for receiving and registering reports of crimes, and non-compliance of the criminal prosecution with the international obligations of the Russian Federation.

At the end of the hearing, Dmitry Sotnikov asked the court to recognize the investigator's ruling as illegal and unfounded and to "oblige the relevant official to eliminate the violation that has occurred."

Melnychenko complained about insufficient medical assistance

When Judge Irina Palchinskaya went to the deliberation room, lawyer Sotnikov was able to communicate with his client. He reported that he had spent about a month undergoing medical examination in LIU-15, and he was transferred to the Leninsk SIZO only yesterday, October 18.

My vision continues to deteriorate. My right eye is almost blind

"I was in a pit for a month. The pit is a solitary confinement cell. From the treatment (in LIU-15), I only had a chest X-ray. They said they have no ophthalmologist. They can only take me to eye microsurgery to make a diagnosis after I am convicted. They offered me to write a statement refusing treatment... They kept me (in LIU-15) for almost a month, but did nothing (did not examine or treat me). My vision continues to deteriorate. My right eye is almost blind. All ailments have flared up (exacerbation). They gave me prison clothes, and I stopped freezing. No packages reach me. I am on freeze," Roman Melnychenko told his lawyer.

The defense plans to appeal the court's decision

From the deliberation room, Judge Irina Palchinskaya came out with a ready decision. She denied the requests of Roman Melnychenko.

"We will appeal this decision in higher courts. We will also continue to file complaints regarding the lack of medical assistance to my client and the torture applied to him," Dmitry Sotnikov told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

He also showed the conclusion of the linguistic examination provided by the prosecution to the court. According to the experts' findings, the video recordings published by Melnychenko "contain a negative assessment of the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out in the territories of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions."

It is also noted that in Melnychenko's speeches, there is justification for his negative assessment "in the form of reference to violations of international law."

The lawyer drew particular attention to the following conclusion of the experts: "in the above-mentioned texts of statements expressing justifications for the necessity to counter the use of... the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, there are none." Also, in his texts, according to the experts, there are no statements "expressing encouragement to commit hostile actions against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."

It should be noted that responsibility for discrediting the armed forces was introduced on March 4, 2022. After that, residents of Russia, including those in the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts, began to face prosecution under the relevant article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation. It provides for fines for citizens ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 rubles, and repeated violations within a year threaten criminal prosecution.

In September 2024, Roman Melnychenko was arrested for three days on charges of disobeying police officers and was also fined 30,000 rubles under the article on discrediting the army.