Annotation

The reasons of absence of demand for Art. 281.1 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code when qualifying different forms of assistance in subversive activities have been analysed in the article. It has been noted that according to judicial statistics, since the beginning of the Special Military Operation (2022), the number of subversions committed in the territory of Russia increased 5 times, while only 6 persons were convicted under Art. 281.1 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code. A concern has been expressed that criminalization of special forms of assistance in subversive activities by the legislator will not be supported in practice due to the conflict between Art. 281.1 and Art. 281 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code with the reference to Art. 33 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code, and due to the lack of clear idea of the fact in proof under Art. 281.1 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code and its difference from the fact in proving the assistance in subversion. For the purpose of uniformity of the judicial practice under Art. 281.1 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code, which may eliminate certain legislative gaps, it has been suggested to consider Art. 281.1 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code as a top priority for qualifying activities of a persons carried out to involve other persons in subversive activities and assist them in committing subversions, to determine the criminal procedure means of proving the “assistance”, the prosecutors are suggested to initiate taking of criminal cases under Art. 281.1 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code to the courts for legal proceedings, including in accordance with the procedures established by Part 5, Art. 247 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code.