Russia sends ASTRA editor-in-chief’s case to court

Russian investigators have completed a criminal case against Anastasia Chumakova, editor-in-chief and founder of independent media outlet ASTRA, and sent it to court.

Chumakova faces charges over allegedly spreading “fake news about the army” and failing to comply with the obligations of a “foreign agent”, ASTRA reports.

Investigators allege that she published material on ASTRA and her Telegram channel in March and April 2022 about the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine that was later deemed inaccurate by an expert assessment.

The Investigative Committee in the Ulyanovsk Region also accused her of publishing material without the mandatory “foreign agent” label after receiving two administrative penalties.

Chumakova has been placed on Russia’s federal and interstate wanted lists. A court has ordered her detention in absentia.

A separate criminal case over alleged failure to comply with “foreign agent” obligations was opened against her in January 2026, according to investigators. She was also arrested in absentia in June in the case concerning alleged “military fake news”.

Chumakova was placed on a wanted list in November 2025 and was added to Russia’s list of “extremists and terrorists” the following month.

Earlier, authorities opened a criminal case over alleged “military fake news” and searched the home of Chumakova’s mother in Ulyanovsk. Her mother was questioned as a witness. Investigators have previously fined Chumakova several times over allegations that she failed to identify herself as the head of a media organisation designated as a “foreign agent”.

By Aghakazim Guliyev