Russia Jails Journalist For 7 Years Over Articles On War Crimes In Ukraine

Russian journalist Roman Ivanov of RusNews received a seven-year prison sentence for writing about Russian war crimes in Ukraine, which authorities deemed as "fake news" under recently enacted wartime censorship legislation.

The laws, implemented after the invasion of Ukraine began, are used to suppress dissenting voices and reporting that contradicts the official stance on Moscow's military actions.

Ivanov was charged because of his reporting on events such as the Bucha massacre and Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian sites. He shared these reports on "Chestnoye Korolyovskoye," his outlet focused on local news in his hometown of Korolyov.

Despite the prosecution pushing for an eight-year sentence, Ivanov was given seven and remained outspoken against the war during his trial.

His speech, calling the war a tragedy for which Russia is responsible, was published by Memorial, a renowned human rights group whose own director was recently sentenced for criticizing the Russian military.

This conviction makes Ivanov the second RusNews journalist imprisoned for "fake news," following colleague Maria Ponomarenko, who was sentenced for her coverage of the bombing of a Mariupol theatre.

Another RusNews journalist is on trial for accusations of promoting "extremism" by calling for protests on the messaging app Telegram.