Moscow court sentences Meduza co-founder and publisher Galina Timchenko to five years in prison in absentia
A Moscow court has sentenced Galina Timchenko, co-founder and CEO of Meduza, to five years in prison in absentia on charges of leading an “undesirable” organization, Mediazona reported.
The court also barred Timchenko from holding leadership positions for five years.
Prosecutors had sought the same prison term during closing arguments.
Russia’s Prosecutor General banned Meduza as an “undesirable organization” in 2023. Timchenko was declared a “foreign agent” in 2024.
The criminal case against Timchenko first became public in May 2025. Shortly afterward, the Russian authorities put her on a wanted list. According to prosecutors, Timchenko founded Meduza while “harboring hatred and contempt for the country’s system of government,” as well as for the domestic and foreign policies of the current authorities. After Meduza was designated an “undesirable” organization, investigators said, Timchenko “formed the intent” to continue the outlet’s activities in order to remain “within the country’s information space.”
The formal basis for the case consisted of three videos featuring Timchenko: an interview with Deutsche Welle, in which she “expresses disagreement and criticizes Russia’s system of government”; an interview with TV2media; and an address to Meduza readers in which she “asks for assistance, including financial support.”
Commenting on the court’s decision to Meduza, Timchenko said:
Surprisingly, I don’t feel anything in particular. The only thought I had was that it’s strange there’s truth in the indictment — for a regime that lies as naturally as it breathes. I really do feel hatred and contempt for those who have turned the lives of millions of people into hell, who send them death every day. As for the sentence itself, it’s just like in the well-known phrase: it isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.