Russia imprisons student for 10 days over pro-Ukraine wi-fi name

A Russian student was imprisoned for 10 days in Moscow after he used a pro-Kyiv slogan as the name of his wi-fi network.

The network was named by the Moscow State University student as “Slava Ukraini!” which means “Glory to Ukraine!”.

He was found guilty by a Moscow court of displaying “symbols of extremist organisations” on Thursday (Mar 7).

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, thousands of people have been given prison sentences or imposed fines for either supporting Ukraine or criticising Russia’s invasion.

The police arrested the student on Wednesday morning (Mar 7) in Moscow after a police officer had reported the name of the network to the authorities.

As per the court documents, his room – which was inside the university’s student accommodation – was inspected by the police officers after which they found his personal computer and a wi-fi router.

According to the court, he had used the network to “promote the slogan ‘Slava Ukraini!’ to an unlimited number of users within wi-fi range.” The police confiscated the router.

The supporters of Ukraine have been using “Slava Ukraini” as a rallying cry and are regularly chanted in protests against the full-scale invasion of Russia which was launched on February 24, 2022.