Protection of historical memory through criminal law and forensic means

In the context of increasing global threats and the formation of a systematic state policy in the Russian Federation aimed at preserving historical memory, the article analyzes the criminal law mechanisms for protection against encroachments on historical memory with an emphasis on the introduced norms of criminal legislation. The object of the study is historical memory as a complex sociocultural phenomenon. Without entering into a discussion about the substantive content of the definition of "historical memory," the authors generally note its most significant characteristics and start from the premise that in the Russian Federation, historical memory has received doctrinal and regulatory-legal consolidation as an object of state protection. The subject of the study is reflected in the title of the article. The protection of historical memory through criminal law and criminalistic means is a reasonable and integral part of state policy aimed at ensuring sovereignty and countering informational and ideological threats. The methodological basis of the research was the principles of objectivity, systematicity, and dialectical consideration of the object. Comparative-legal and historical-genetic methods were used, and the statistical method was employed in analyzing judicial practice and compiling criminalistic characteristics. Directions of state policy and the role of criminal law protection have been identified. Special attention is paid to the historical-legal context of the criminalization of genocide. The compositions of crimes related to the rehabilitation of Nazism and encroachments on ritualized symbolic objects of historical and cultural heritage have been analyzed. As a result of analyzing law enforcement practice, a criminalistic characteristic of crimes has been compiled, including the socio-demographic portrait of those convicted of crimes against historical memory. The criminalization of acts provided for in Articles 243.4, 354.1, and 357 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has not only legal but also socio-cultural significance. The authors believe that criminal law measures for protection are necessary and relevant, but are insufficient and must be organically integrated into a broader state system of enlightenment, educational, and scientific measures aimed at fostering a stable historical consciousness.