Latest news with #Mediazona
Novaya Gazeta Europe
5 days ago
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian former news anchor sentenced in absentia to 8 years for Freedom of Russia Legion interview — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian former national news anchor Farida Kurbangaleyeva has been sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison, independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Friday. Kurbangaleyeva, who resigned from her role in protest over the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and went into exile, was convicted of spreading 'false information' about the Russian military and 'justifying terrorism'. The second defendant in the case, Alexey Baranovsky, who fought for Ukraine as part of the Freedom of Russia Legion, which fights alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the Russian military, was also sentenced in absentia to six years in a penal colony. The prosecution said that Kurbangaleyeva had 'consciously used her reputation and media resources as a former presenter on a national TV channel' to publish an interview with Baranovsky on her YouTube channel in May 2024, which included 'assertions of … heroism' regarding the legion's activities. The prosecution also considered posts on her Telegram channel to be 'false information' about the army. Kurbangaleyeva hosted the Vesti news programme on Russian state TV channel Rossiya-1 until 2014, and after going into exile she hosted the news on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty-affiliated TV channel Current Time from 2018 to 2021. She now lives in Prague and runs her own YouTube channel. Reacting to her sentence on her Telegram channel, Kurbangaleyeva wrote: 'I've decided to recover from the blow with a glass of rosé in a café in the town of Châteaufort near Paris. I have to think about how to live with all this…' A Moscow court first issued a warrant for Kurbangaleyeva's arrest in absentia in June 2024, when she was also added to the Russian government's list of 'foreign agents' and 'extremists and terrorists'. In February, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office lodged a formal request with Czechia for the extradition of Kurbangaleyeva, which was turned down. This was the first known instance of Russia submitting an extradition request to an EU country for a Russian citizen facing charges of justifying terrorism or spreading false information.
Novaya Gazeta Europe
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian man sentenced to 3 years in prison for donating €16 to Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation — Novaya Gazeta Europe
A Moscow court has sentenced a man to three years in prison for donating €16 to Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), independent media outlet Mediazona reported from the courtroom on Tuesday. Dmitry Marsov, a 55-year-old father of five, was arrested on 2 April and charged with making five monthly donations of 300 rubles (about €3) each to the FBK, which was declared 'extremist' by the Russian government in June 2021, between August and December of the same year. Marsov said during interrogation that he had felt remorse for what he had done 'ever since December 2021', when he ended the direct debit, Mediazona reported. He explained that he began making donations to the FBK out of a 'general belief' in fighting corruption, and only subsequently learnt that FBK members 'sullied the name of the country and the government' from abroad. Calling himself a peaceful and law-abiding person, Marsov had willingly given up all his passwords to the police and fully cooperated with the investigation. Marsov's defence team told the court that the donation was lower than the equivalent of the monthly minimum wage, and asked the court to show mercy by imposing a non-custodial sentence. In his closing statement, Marsov said he regretted what he had done, according to Mediazona, and added that it was 'foolish to believe' that any organisation could fight corruption. Marsov's sentence is the latest in a series of cases against Russians whose donations to Navalny-linked organisations had been uncovered by law enforcement accessing their banking details, with another Moscow resident, Alexey Levanov, sentenced in February to 3.5 years in prison for donating to the FBK.
Novaya Gazeta Europe
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian court sentences writer Boris Akunin in absentia to 14 years in prison — Novaya Gazeta Europe
A Moscow court sentenced exiled writer Boris Akunin in absentia to 14 years in prison on Monday, after he was found guilty of 'aiding and justifying terrorism' and violating the law on 'foreign agents', independent news outlet Mediazona has reported. Akunin, whose real name is Grigory Chkhartishvili, is a Russian-Georgian writer famous for his Erast Fandorin novels that have been published in dozens of languages around the world. The charge of aiding terrorism relates to a conversation between Akunin and well-known Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, in which the writer encouraged Russian servicemen to switch sides and fight for Ukraine, and called a Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge a 'clear and direct way' to bring the realities of war home to 'stupid people'. The charge of justifying terrorism related to an online post where Akunin said he was for 'revolution, as there is no other way to get rid of a dictatorship', while the third and final charge concerned 'at least 33' Telegram posts to which he had failed to add a notification that the material was by a 'foreign agent', as required by Russian law. Prior to the sentence being handed down on Monday, Akunin wrote that he had taken no part in the trial. 'I don't recognise their court. I have not authorised any lawyer to represent me … and have not been part of this circus in any way.' After the announcement of his sentence, he joked with readers that he would next post in 2043, factoring in the four years subsequent to his release where he would be banned from administering internet websites. Rosfinmonitoring, the Russian financial watchdog, added Akunin, who now lives in London, having left Russia in protest at the annexation of Crimea, to its list of 'terrorists and extremists' in December 2023. The Russian Justice Ministry declared him a 'foreign agent' the following month.
Novaya Gazeta Europe
08-07-2025
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Popular Moscow bookstore facing charges for ‘LGBT propaganda' — Novaya Gazeta Europe
The Falanster bookstore in Moscow has had charges laid against it for promoting 'LGBT propaganda', independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Wednesday. Founded in 2002, Falanster is known as one of the few independent bookstores in the city, catering to academics and specialising in philosophy, history, sociology and other humanities. A Moscow court will also look into Falanster co-founder Boris Kupriyanov for participating in the work of an 'undesirable' organisation, according to the Moscow courts' website, though it remains unclear what exactly both these civil cases relate to. The court hearings have been scheduled for 17 July. On 26 May, the same court fined fined Falanster and Kupriyanov 80,000 rubles (€890) and 40,000 rubles (€445) respectively for participating in the work of an 'undesirable' organisation by selling the book On the Way to Magadan by Belarusian anarchist writer Ihar Alinevich, which was published with the support of the Anarchist Black Cross, an organisation that the Justice Ministry deemed 'undesirable' in early 2024. Kupriyanov pleaded not guilty to the charges. At trial, he said that he only discovered the Anarchist Black Cross connection once the Prosecutor's Office had begun looking into the case. He also pointed out that it had been declared 'undesirable' after the publishing contract had been signed. A nationwide crackdown on books and bookshops began in April, when police seized dozens of books with LGBT and feminist themes from the Podpisnye Izdaniya bookstore in St. Petersburg, while in May, police in Moscow detained a number of publishing professionals, including a director at Russia's largest publishing house Eksmo, in connection to a criminal case relating to books allegedly containing 'LGBT propaganda'.
Daily Mirror
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Putin breaks sanctions to beef up deadly drone war on Ukraine
Russian forces are using banned European and American components to make 'Kamikaze drones' fitted with AI technology more deadly in their war on Ukraine, it has been claimed. Iranian Shahed-136 Geran 2 drones are fitted with original Tehran explosives and engines but Russian mini-computers are used in them for accuracy in targeting. The new variant of drones have anti-jamming devices making them tough to disable by ground troops and AI technology to help with targeting of soldiers and civilians. And Ukrainian weapons experts have discovered banned-US, German, Swiss and even Taiwanese components added to the drones. Despite years of sanctions against importing weapons components or dual purpose items it means Russia is still able to smuggle items in for their war. It is believed sanctions-busting middle-dealers are using 'third parties' to bypass sanctions through eastern European businesses with access to Russia. One hybrid drone was downed on June 17 in the Ukrainian region of Sumy where Ukrainian experts were able to take it apart. They discovered the addition of the Russian 'Nvidia Jetson Orin' minicomputer, which helps the AI enhance the drone and video processing. It is believed these additions to the First Person View - FPV - drone make it easier for the pilot driving it to direct the weapon to its target. One Ukrainian source said: 'We've been aware for some time that components from some European countries are being used by the Russians. These are strictly banned by sanctions against Moscow and yet they are still getting through the system illegally. 'And they are being used for deadly purposes and increasingly are becoming more sophisticated.' In the past The Daily Mirror has revealed how sanctions have had an effect on Russia's ability to fight the war. At one stage it was unable to provide tanks with the correct optical devices meaning it reduced commanders' ability to aim their guns as well. This reduced effective targeting from seven miles to four miles. Ukrainian forces have halted Russia's advance into northern Sumy region and have stabilised the front line near the border with Russia, Ukraine's top military commander said. Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops, including elite airborne and marine brigades, to other areas of the front line. Russian forces have been slowly grinding forward at some points on the 620-mile front line but their losses have been catastrophic, daily losing hundreds of troops. Recruitment has become increasingly difficult for Russian commanders because of the ferocity of fighting in Ukraine. More than 20,000 Russian soldiers have been prosecuted for refusing to fight in Ukraine, a Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported on June 26. As of late May Mediazona documented 20,538 such cases since September 2022 - when the Kremlin announced a first wave of partial mobilisation, compared to 10,025 cases reported as of June 2024. Of these, 18,159 were cases of soldiers going AWOL, 1,369 cases of failure to comply with an order, and 1,010 cases of desertion. According to Mediazona, 17,721 of the accused have already been sentenced. Ukraine's air force said that Russia deployed 41 Shahed and decoy drones across the country overnight, wounding five people. It said that 24 drones were either intercepted or jammed.
