In a conversation with The Insider, lawyer Elena Lukyanova noted that a recent ruling by Russia’s Constitutional Court supporting the legality of a law on “discrediting the army" is in fact a constitutional coup d'etat. The judges have proclaimed that the supreme goal of the Constitution is no longer the individual, and his or her rights and freedoms, but the state, and the approval of the invasion of Ukraine is now the constitutional duty of a citizen of the Russian Federation, lawyers Elena Lukyanova and Ilya Shablinsky explained to The Insider.

A recent ruling by Russia’s Constitutional Court supporting the legality of a law on “discrediting the army” is in fact a constitutional coup d’etat. The judges have proclaimed that the supreme value of the Constitution is no longer the individual, and his or her rights and freedoms, but the state. The approval of the invasion of Ukraine is now a Russian citizen’s constitutional duty, lawyers Elena Lukyanova and Ilya Shablinsky say.