On 15 September 2023, a court in Moscow sentenced Ukrainian journalist Mariya Yefrosynina to seven years in prison in absentia, on charges of disseminating “fake news” on the war in Ukraine. Yefrosynina commented on the case on her Instagram account: she said that the news “couldn’t not make her happy”, adding that she would continue to “tell the truth”.
On May 18, a court in Moscow arrested Yefrosynina in absentia, after a criminal case was opened against her for allegedly “discrediting” the Russian army in posts on her Instagram account.
On January 27, the Russian government agency Rosfinmonitoring added the Ukrainian journalist to its “list of terrorists and extremists”. Individuals on the list are banned from carrying out any financial operations in the country and their accounts are frozen.
Mariya Yefrosynina is a Ukrainian journalist born in Kerch, Crimea. She initially worked as an anchor on UT-1 and Inter, two Ukrainian TV channels. She now conducts interviews which she publishes on her Youtube channel.