Pro-Kremlin media anchor from Crimea gets 11 years in prison

The host of a pro-Kremlin media outlet from Crimea had been calling for the invasion of Ukraine for years and openly supported the Russian army on his program. The court sentenced him in absentia for collaboration and justification of the war.

This was reported by the press service of the SBU Main Directorate in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The Security Service of Ukraine has secured a verdict in absentia for the so-called "political observer" of the pro-Kremlin Krym 24 media outlet. According to the investigation, he actively participated in Russia's information and psychological operations and spread fakes justifying the war against Ukraine.

Evidence shows that in his own author's program "Politotdel" the propagandist called for the seizure of Ukrainian territory and support for the Russian army. Based on these materials, the court found him guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 6 of Article 111-1 (collaboration) and Part 3 of Article 436-2 (justification and denial of armed aggression of the Russian Federation).

He was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison. As he is currently on the territory temporarily not controlled by Ukraine, law enforcement officers continue to take comprehensive measures to bring him to justice for his crimes.

The investigation was conducted by SBU officers in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.

The Security Service of Ukraine also announced a new suspicion against pro-Russian blogger Dmytro Taran from Kakhovka. The investigation believes that he worked as a mouthpiece of Kremlin propaganda, hiding behind the fictitious status of an "intelligence officer".

According to the investigation, Taran systematically spread pro-Russian narratives through his own YouTube channel. In his videos, he claimed that Ukraine was "an integral part of Russia" and presented Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine as an alleged "liberation mission" and "a proxy war with NATO and the collective West."

Анна Бальчінос