Russian TV hosts incited to commit war crimes in Ukraine

The Crimean human rights group has submitted materials to the International Criminal Court indicating the possible involvement of Russian propagandists Vladimir Solovyov, Sergey Mikheev and politician Andrey Gurulov in war crimes in Ukraine. The organization calls on the ICC prosecutor to launch an investigation into their actions.

This is stated in the summary of the communication submitted to the Office of the ICC Prosecutor.

The document says that they called for strikes on the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine, justified the attacks and publicly expressed approval of the suffering of the civilian population. According to human rights defenders, such statements may encourage or incite the commission of crimes, and therefore constitute a form of aggravation.

During the year, the team of human rights activists collected more than 600 statements by Russian media figures and created a public database 'Exposing Russian Propagandists', which currently includes 173 people. Artificial intelligence models were used to analyze the content. The submission emphasizes that freedom of speech cannot be an excuse for calls for mass violence.

Human rights activists are asking the ICC prosecutor to launch an investigation into the actions of Solovyov, Mikheev and Gurulov and bring them to international justice. Previously, criminal proceedings have been initiated against these propagandists in Ukraine: Mikheyev was found guilty in absentia, and Solovyov was notified of suspicion of genocide and calls for attacks on Ukraine.

Also, we would like to remind you that earlier in the occupied Crimea, the cook was transferred to the Simferopol detention center. According to human rights activists, she was previously held in a closed FSB prison for more than a year without contact with the outside world.

A chef from Sevastopol, whom Russian security forces accuse of allegedly trying to poison participants in the war against Ukraine, was transferred to SIZO-1 in Simferopol. According to media reports, this is Olga Tsyryk, who has been in isolation in an FSB special prison in Simferopol's SIZO-2 for more than a year.

At the end of September 2025, Russian security forces announced her detention. According to their version, in September 2023, the woman allegedly got in touch with Ukraine's special services via WhatsApp, sent them photos of the Russian Black Sea Fleet ships in the Sevastopol Bay, and later she was accused of trying to poison the Russian military. The propagandists drew these conclusions based on her correspondence with her curator, allegedly leaked to the FSB.

Катерина Глушко