Russia sentences Ukrainian TV presenter Yanina Sokolova to 8 years in prison in absentia

The Meduza publication reports this with reference to the Moscow Prosecutor's Office.

According to the Russian prosecution, Sokolova, in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel and on her YouTube channel, allegedly addressed an unspecified number of people with a speech that "contains statements that form a contemptuous and hostile attitude towards Russians.”

Amid the criminal prosecution in Russia, the Ukrainian TV presenter was added to the register of "extremists and terrorists" and put on a wanted list.

The publication notes that in August 2022, the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, demanded that a criminal case be opened against Sokolova. The IC's statement said that the TV presenter, in an interview with NTA, allegedly voiced her position on the need to kill Russian people on ethnic grounds, and “openly expressed threats against representatives of the Russian people, emphasizing the need for their merciless destruction.”

• On August 7, 2023, the Russian Interior Ministry put Ukrainian TV presenter Yanina Sokolova on the wanted list.