Head of "Meduza" sentenced in absentia to five years

Photo: Andrej Vasilenko / Meduza

Judge Irina Kuzan sentenced Timchenko to five years in a general-regime correctional colony and also banned her from holding managerial positions for five years. The Moscow prosecutor's office requested the same term for the publisher of "Meduza" (the maximum penalty under the article is six years of imprisonment), writes "Meduza".

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation declared "Meduza" an "undesirable" organization in January 2023, citing that the publication's activities "pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation." In June 2024, Timchenko was fined 14,000 Russian rubles (140 dollars) under an administrative protocol for participating in the activities of an "undesirable" organization. In August 2024, the Ministry of Justice declared "Meduza"'s publisher a "foreign agent."

A criminal case against Timchenko was initiated in May 2025. Soon after, she was declared wanted and arrested in absentia. The indictment stated that Timchenko created "Meduza" "feeling hatred and contempt for the state structure of the country, and the internal and external policies of the current government." And after "Meduza" was declared an "undesirable" organization, Timchenko "formed an intent" to continue the publication's activities to remain "in the country's information space."

The formal basis for the criminal prosecution were three videos featuring Timchenko: an interview with Deutsche Welle, in which she "expresses her disagreement, criticizes the state structure of Russia," an interview with TV2media, and an appeal to "Meduza" readers, in which she "asks for help, including financial."

As "Mediazona" noted, two prosecution witnesses gave identical testimonies during the trial. They claimed that a police officer on the street offered them to become witnesses. Lawyer Olga Podoplelova, during the debate, demanded the acquittal of "Meduza"'s publisher, calling Timchenko's criminal prosecution politically motivated — and a violation of her constitutional right to freedom of speech.

Here is what Galina Timchenko told "Meduza" after the verdict was announced:

"It's strange, but I don't feel anything special. I only thought: it's strange that the indictment contains the truth — for a regime that lies as it breathes. I truly feel hatred and contempt for those who turned the lives of millions of people into hell, who send them death every day. As for the verdict itself, it's all like the well-known phrase: it's not even worth the paper it's written on."

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