A group of local St. Petersburg politicians who have called for the impeachment of President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine face the possible dissolution of their district council following a court ruling on Tuesday, one lawmaker said.

Nikita Yuferev said that the court declared a number of previous meetings of the council invalid, which opens the way for the dissolution of the regional government.

Another council member, Dmytro Palyuga, said the same court fined him 47,000 rubles ($780) for “discrediting” the authorities when he called for Putin’s resignation. Court officials could not be reached for comment by phone.

In the next two days, four more deputies of the Smolny local council are to appear before the court.

It will be recalled that last week the deputies of the Smolny municipality of St. Petersburg appealed to the State Duma of the Russian Federation to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of treason, citing a number of reasons, including Russia’s military losses in Ukraine and damage to its economy. due to western sanctions

Another local lawmaker said 65 municipal representatives from St. Petersburg, Moscow and several other regions called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to resign, according to a petition posted on Twitter on Monday.

While they do not currently pose a threat to Putin, the moves mark a rare display of dissent from local elected officials at a time when Russians face serious prison terms for “discrediting” the armed forces or spreading “deliberately false information” about them.

Palyuga told Reuters he expected a growing number of those calling for Putin’s resignation after the Ukrainians’ lightning counteroffensive last week.

“Of course, what is happening now coincided well with our agenda. Many people who liked Putin are beginning to feel betrayed. I think that the more successful the Ukrainian army will be, the more such people there will be,” he said.

Russian political scientist Tetiana Stanova believes that the biggest risk for the Kremlin is not the councilors’ protest itself, but the danger of a harsh reaction to it.

“A reaction or an overreaction can cause more political damage to the regime than this petition. But I have no doubt that everyone who signed the petition will be under political pressure,” said Stanova, the founder of the independent analytical project R. .Politik.

Thousands of cases have been brought against people accused of defaming the military, which usually result in fines for first-time offenders, but in July a Moscow lawmaker was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of spreading false information. Several other journalists and opposition figures have also been charged and face prison terms.