Roman Melnychenko was detained in a case of discrediting the army.

After a search, former lecturer of Volgograd State University, lawyer Roman Melnychenko, was detained. The reason for the detention was a post on social media, which the security forces interpreted as discrediting the army.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 6, 2024, it became known that the former lecturer of Volgograd State University, an expert in international law, Roman Melnychenko was arrested for three days on charges of disobeying police, and was also fined 30,000 rubles under the article on discrediting the army.

Operatives of the Center for Countering Extremism of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Volgograd Region, in cooperation with employees of the regional FSB, and with the force support of SOBR fighters, detained a 53-year-old local resident suspected of discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the police of the Volgograd region reported today.

A video is attached to the publication, showing security forces entering an apartment, laying a man on the floor, and then conducting a search. After that, he is led away in handcuffs to a law enforcement building.

The detainee is 53-year-old former professor of Volgograd State University Roman Melnychenko, writes V1.

Roman Melnychenko has repeatedly commented to the "Caucasian Knot". In particular, he pointed out that cases of arson of railway and mobile communication equipment are classified by investigators as sabotage and terrorism. In such criminal cases, a similar wording often appears: allegedly "unidentified persons" force, including teenagers or young people, to film the arsons and then send them to the "customer." This narrative in a large number of criminal cases indicates that investigators found a simple way to prove crimes, Melnychenko previously noted.

In October 2025, Melnychenko participated in reading the names of political prisoners online, a video of which he published on his YouTube channel. He read the names and brief biographical details of two Ukrainians shot in 1937-1938. "I see a state that is reviving a system built by Lenin and Stalin (...) Last year I read these names in the center of Volgograd at the monument, today already - no," he said then.

In March 2024, a Volgograd TV channel published the names of people who brought flowers to the monument to the victims of political repression in memory of Alexei Navalny, calling them potential "malefactors." The hosts of the program "Online Conversation" on the "Volgograd 1" channel stated that they conducted a "journalistic investigation" about the residents of the city who brought flowers to the monument to the victims of political repression. A number of activists shown in the program - Roman Melnychenko, Ruslan Nurushev, Vladimir Telpuk - demanded that the Investigative Committee and the prosecutor's office initiate a criminal case on this matter, and Melnychenko has repeatedly filed complaints about the refusal to investigate.

In 2022, the prosecutor's office accused Melnychenko of spreading fakes after his publications about events in Ukraine, and lawyers from Volgograd State University, where he taught, saw signs of agitation among students in his actions. On April 19, 2022, it became known that Melnychenko was dismissed from the university for absenteeism and immoral behavior. Melnychenko saw political motives in his dismissal and decided to appeal the rector's order. On June 7, the court imposed a fine of 30,000 rubles on Melnychenko, finding him guilty of spreading false information due to his publications about Ukraine. On July 12, 2022, the Soviet District Court of Volgograd considered Melnychenko's appeal and upheld the fine. He also failed to achieve reinstatement in his position.