Russian artist faces 10 years' jail for swapping grocery store price tags with info on Mariupol attacks

Sasha Skochilenko had reportedly replaced a price tag with a sign that provided information about the Mariupol art school bombing on March 20, 2022. (Image credit: @sovietvisuals/Twitter)

Sasha Skochilenko, a Russian artist is facing 10 years in jail for replacing supermarket price labels with information on Russian attacks on civilians in Mariupol, Ukraine. She has been accused of spreading ‘false information’.

Skochilenko doesn’t deny leaving the tags, but insists it’s all true,  The Guardian reported.

She was detained on April 11 and a St Petersburg court confined her to pre-trial detention until June, human rights charity Amnesty International said.

We need your help This is our friend Sasha Skochilenko. She is facing 10 years in prison. Her crime? Replacing supermarket price labels with anti-war appeals and information on Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/0DfGVgLM8f

— Soviet Visuals (@sovietvisuals) April 15, 2022

Here are some of those price tags (with English translation) via @KevinRothrockpic.twitter.com/Dssomc26Ab — Honziku (@HeinrichT9) April 14, 2022

Sasha Skochilenko was charged under new laws banning "fake news" which criminalises Russians who disseminate "false information" about Russia's military institutions.

The laws also require Russians describe the invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation."

Meanwhile, there have also been concerns regarding Skochilenko's health during her time in prison as she apparently suffers from celiac disease which is an immune reaction to eating gluten found in wheat, barley and rye.

Our friend and ex-colleague Sasha Skochilenko is facing from 5 to 10 years in prison because of the new law prohibiting "fake news about Russian military". Now she is under arrest until the end of spring which is life-threatening given her medical condition (celiac disease). 1/4 pic.twitter.com/JS2g81pJ9n — Victoria Vziatysheva (@victoria_vzt) April 14, 2022

Investigators have accused Skochilenko of being motivated by "political hatred for Russia," which could mean 10 years in jail and a fine of 3 million Russia Rubles ($36,000) if she is found guilty, The Guardian reported.

She is accused of "putting fragments of paper in place of price tags, containing knowingly false information about the use of the Russian armed forces" in a Perekryostok supermarket on March 31. The incident was reported to the police by a customer, Skochilenko's lawyer said in court.

Skochilenko had reportedly replaced a price tag with a sign that provided information about the Mariupol art school bombing on March 20, 2022.

Ukrainian said Russian troops had bombed the school which was being used by hundreds of civilians as a shelter. While Russia confirmed there was a "humanitarian catastrophe" there, but it blamed "Ukrainian nationalists" for it.