Week-ending 19 July 2024
Russia’s War against Ukraine
Masha Gessen has been convicted in absentia by a Moscow court of spreading false information about the military and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. (The Guardian, 15/7/24)
A Moscow court sentenced Yelena Kotyonochkina to 7 1/2 years in prison in absentia on a charge of distributing false information about Russia’s military. (RFE/RL, 15/7/24)
A Moscow court sentenced self-exiled former lawyer Mark Feigin to 11 years in prison in absentia on a charge of distributing “false” information about the military. (RFE/RL, 16/7/24)
University student Olesya Krivtsova who fled Russia to evade prosecution for criticizing the war said the authorities canceled her internal passport. (The Moscow Times, 16/7/24)
Russian-Ukrainian dual citizen Ivan Nedilsky was sentenced to 26 years in prison for treason, participation in a terrorist organization, and vandalism. (RFE/RL, 16/7/24)
The Investigative Committee launched an investigation into Yevgenia Chirikova on a charge of distributing false information about Russia’s military. (RFE/RL, 16/7/24)
Poet Artyom Kamardin, serving seven years for publicly reciting verses against the Ukraine invasion, rejected an offer to join Russian armed forces invading Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 17/7/24)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill that bans members of parliament from leaving the country without permission. (RFE/RL, 13/7/24)
Russian authorities called on Google to restore more than 200 pro-government YouTube channels blocked since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (The Moscow Times, 16/7/24)
Russia’s State Statistics Service has excluded the total number of deaths from external causes in its annual report. (RFE/RL, 16/7/24)
Around 650,000 Russians have left the country and not returned since Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. (The Moscow Times, 17/7/24)
Other cases
A Russian court has found the US journalist Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison, after a trial widely described as a sham. (RFE/RL, 19/7/24)
Russian businessman Igor Kotelnikov charged with bribing senior Defense Ministry officials on behalf of suppliers has died in pretrial detention. (RFE/RL, 13/7/24)
Primorye regional court rejected an appeal to transfer Yakut shaman Aleksandr Gabyshev to a less restrictive psychiatric clinic. (RFE/RL, 15/7/24)
The Interior Ministry added two journalists — Andrei Zakharov and Dmitry Fomintsev — to its wanted list on unspecified charges. (RFE/RL, 17/7/24)
A court in Tatarstan fined feminist activist Dina Nurm and her partner, Anastasia Goncharenko, 100,000 rubles each for “propagating LGBT relations.” (RFE/RL, 17/7/24)
A Moscow court sentenced U.S. citizen Michale Travis Leake to 13 years in prison on drug charges. (RFE/RL, 18/7/24)
The Russian Interior Ministry on July 18 added journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva, who has left Russia, to its wanted list on unspecified charges. (RFE/RL, 18/7/24)
The FSB said a court in Altai Krai sentenced a 20-year-old university student to nine years in prison for sending medicines to the IS extremist group in Syria. (RFE/RL, 18/7/24)
A court sentenced Ilshat Ulyabayev, a supporter of jailed Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov,to five years in prison for participating in riots and attacking a police officer. (RFE/RL, 18/7/24)
Russia is developing legislation that would ban child adoption by citizens of countries that recognize the right to change gender. (RFE/RL, 13/7/24)
Authorities in Russia on Thursday added the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to the country’s list of “undesirable” organizations. (The Moscow Times, 18/7/24)
298 died on 17 July 2014 when the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was hit by a Russian surface-to-air Buk missile. (BBC, 17/7/24)
