Russia sentences Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Prepodobny sentenced to 8 years in prison

A court in Moscow (Russia) has sentenced Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Prepodobny to eight years in prison in absentia for a "fake" article about the Russian army.

The judgement was passed by the Basmanny District Court of Moscow on July 29, reports Mediazona.

Oleksandr Prepodobny, photo by Oleksandr Prepodobny on Facebook

Political scientist Abbas Gallyamov was sentenced to the same penalty under this article. Both were banned from running websites for four years after serving the term.

The Russian prosecution insisted that on April 9, 2022, in an interview with the YouTube channel "Hroshi" (a special project of the TV channel "1+1"), the political scientist talked about the "destruction of municipalities and the killing of civilians in Bucha and Kramatorsk." He was accused of promoting fake news about the Russian army. Gallyamov was on the air with two journalists, one of whom was Oleksandr Prepodobny.

Gallyamov's lawyer Alan said in the debate that the investigation did not prove the political scientist's guilt, but simply stated its position regarding the interview, and that "such an approach to evidence" may as well be applied to cases of "generally criminal direction".

Prepodobny's defence attorney insisted that the defendant is a citizen of Ukraine, and therefore, as a journalist, he is obliged to rely on the statements by his Ministry of Defense, and not the Russian Ministry of Defense, on whose position the investigation relies.

The persecution of the political scientist, who was Vladimir Putin's speechwriter in 2008–2010, was reported in March 2023, when Mediazona found his name in the MIA's wanted persons database. In February 2023, Russia's Ministry of Justice declared Gallyamov a "foreign agent".

Oleksandr Prepodobny was chief of sociological investigations at the TV channel "1+1", the project "Hroshi", and hosted the projects "Jedi" ("2+2") and "Agents of Influence" (NTN).

Other Ukrainian journalists convicted by Russia

On July 26, 2024, a court in Russia sentenced Ukrainian journalist and Channel 24 host Fahrudin Sharafmal to seven years in prison in absentia, convicting him of "inciting hatred, rehabilitating Nazism and calls for extremism."

On July 1, a court in Russia sentenced Dmytro Gordon, the owner of the media outlet "Gordon", to 14 years in prison in absentia. He was convicted of calls for a war of aggression; inciting hatred with violent threats; public appeals to justify terrorism; spreading "fakes" about the Russian army.