On 29 July 2024, a court in Moscow sentenced Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Prepodobny to 8 years in prison in absentia on charges of disseminating what Russia claims is “fake news” about the war in Ukraine. The news was reported on by independent outlet MediaZona, whose correspondent reported from the sentencing in Moscow. In addition to the in absentia prison term, Russia banned Prepodobny, who lives in Ukraine, from administering websites for four years. It was unclear how this ban would be enforced.
Russian investigators charges Prepodobny for an interview in April 2022 with Russian political scientist Abbas Gallyamov, which appeared on a Youtube channel managed by Ukrainian TV channel 1+1. In the interview, Gallyamov spoke of the “destruction of settlements and of the killing of civilians in Kramatorsk” following Russian attacks on the city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Gallyamov was also sentenced to 8 years of prison in absentia in the same case as Prepodobny. The political scientist no longer lives in Russia.
UPDATE: On 7 November 2024, the Moscow court of appeals confirmed the prison sentences earlier handed to Prepodobny and Gallyamov.