Russian Ex-TV Host Sentenced to 8 Years for Anti-War Advocacy and Spreading False Information

A Russian military court sentenced former state television journalist Farida Kurbangaleeva to eight years in absentia on Friday for disseminating “false information” regarding the military and “justifying terrorism,” as reported by the independent news organization Mediazona.

Kurbangaleeva faced legal action after her interview in May 2024 with a member of the Free Russia Legion, an anti-Kremlin group fighting alongside Ukraine that has been labeled a terrorist organization by Moscow. Furthermore, she was charged due to several posts on her anti-war Telegram channel.

The member of the Free Russia Legion she interviewed, Alexei Baranovsky, also received a six-year prison sentence in absentia, according to Mediazona’s report.

Currently residing in the Czech Republic, Kurbangaleeva was placed on Russia’s wanted list in June 2024. In February, the Prosecutor General’s Office requested her extradition.

She began her journalism career in Kazan in 1998 and hosted the Vesti news program on the state-owned Rossiya-1 channel from 2007 to 2014 before resigning in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Afterward, she worked for the Prague-based broadcaster Current Time, a collaborative effort of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She is presently involved with the exiled news outlet Govorit NeMoskva and operates her own YouTube channel.

In an interview with The Moscow Times, Kurbangaleeva expressed that she was not surprised by the court’s decision, stating, “What else can you expect from what we call ‘Putin’s justice?’”

“I have no intention of ceasing my YouTube activities. I took a brief hiatus, but I plan to return as a host for the new season this fall,” she noted.