Journalist Veronika Belotserkovskaya sentenced in absentia to nine years in prison for ‘disinformation’ about Russian army

A Moscow court has sentenced Russian journalist and food blogger Veronika Belotserkovskaya in absentia to nine years in prison for spreading “disinformation” about the Russian army.

Prosecutors first opened the case against Belotserkovskaya in March, making her one of the first people to be charged in absentia under Russia’s wartime ‘disinformation’ law. According to investigators, she made Instagram posts that contained “knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces murdering children, bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol, and murdering civilians in Bucha.”

Since Belotserkovskaya was first charged, Russian authorities have seized 153 million rubles’ (or about $2.17 million) worth of her property.