Russia has recently arrested a journalist from the Russian edition of Forbes magazine for social media reposts regarding accusations of Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Rights groups have reported that hundreds of Russians have been arrested, fined, and jailed for criticizing Russia’s offensive in Ukraine under strict military censorship laws. Russian authorities have been specifically targeting individuals for comments on Bucha, where Russian troops have been accused of massacring civilians. Moscow has denied these allegations and instead accused Kyiv and the West of staging the scenes of dead civilians and testimonies of torture.
The journalist, Sergei Mingazov, was detained and is currently being held in a temporary detention center in the city of Khabarovsk in the Far East. He faces up to 10 years in prison for spreading “false information” by reposting a publication about the events in Bucha on his Telegram channel. His channel, which has around 430 followers, features several reposts from April 2022 alleging that Russian troops killed civilians in Bucha when they controlled the Kyiv suburb for a month at the beginning of the campaign. Images of dead civilians found on the streets in Bucha made headlines worldwide and caused outrage in the West.
Forbes Russia has not been able to contact Mingazov since his arrest. This incident comes after a Russian reporter was sentenced to seven years in jail for articles on alleged Russian war crimes, including those in Bucha, and opposition politician Ilya Yashin is serving 8.5 years in jail on similar charges after discussing the claims in a YouTube video. Moscow has strictly prohibited criticism of its offensive in Ukraine and has essentially made independent reporting on the campaign illegal, leading to many foreign and Russian reporters fleeing the country over the past two years due to fear of arrest.
The advocacy group Reporters Without Borders reported that Russia arrested 34 journalists in 2023, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and joint US-Russian citizen Alsu Kurmasheva, who are both still in pre-trial detention. The increasing crackdown on journalists and media freedom in Russia has raised concerns among international human rights organizations about the state of media censorship and freedom of speech in the country. The targeting of journalists for reporting on alleged war crimes in Ukraine has highlighted the dangers faced by those who choose to speak out against the Russian government’s actions. Despite the challenges, many journalists continue to risk their safety to report on important issues and hold those in power accountable.
