supported Savostyanov, who subsequently won the election. On June 19, 2019, he himself was nominated by the Communist Party at the by-election to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the VII convocation in the 70th constituency (northern part of the Khabarovsk Krai), and took second place. He opposes amendments to the constitution and the nullification of the presidential term of Vladimir Putin. He positively assesses the activities of Joseph Stalin. He supports the annexation of Crimea, Putin's declaration of independence of DPR and LPR and subsequent entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, saying it is a "special operation", not a "war". Political repression On June 4, 2020, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Platoshkin on charges of inducing mass riots, as well as publicly disseminating knowingly false information about circumstances that pose a threat to the life and safety of citizens. In the morning, a search was carried out in Platoshkin’s apartment, as a result of which, according to his wife, they took away computers, a camera and family savings. After the search, the politician was detained and taken to the IC of Russia [48]. In the evening, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow sent the politician under house arrest until August 2, after which a new search was conducted at the place of Platoshkin’s official residence. The accusation under the article on riots was made by several Platoshkin’s videos on YouTube, the prosecution on article 207.1 of the Criminal Code also concerned videos on YouTube: according to investigators, during a pandemic, a public figure called for a violation of restrictive measures. On June 15, 2020, Amnesty International recognized the Russian politician Nikolay Platoshkin as a prisoner of conscience. Electoral history On 23 September 2018, Sergey Furgal who was elected from the Komsomolsk constituency, was elected Governor of Khabarovsk Krai and so a By-election was announced Notes 1965 births 20th-century diplomats 21st-century diplomats 21st-century Russian historians 21st-century Russian politicians Living people People from Stupinsky District Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Russia Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni Political prisoners according to Memorial Latin Americanists Russian bloggers Russian diplomats Russian Internet celebrities Russian male writers Russian political scientists Russian socialists Russian YouTubers Soviet diplomats Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia