Russia sentences Dozhd TV presenter in absentia

Russian authorities have sentenced Ekaterina Kotrikadze, a presenter and head of Russian exiled independent Dozhd TV, in absentia to eight years in prison over posts she made about the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

According to a Telegram channel, reporting from Moscow’s Golovinsky Court, Kotrikadze was found guilty of spreading “fake news about the Russian Armed Forces” under Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code and violating the law on foreign agents (Article 330.1).

The charges relate to posts Kotrikadze published on her personal Telegram channel in April 2022, in which she discussed the events in Bucha and her arrival in Odesa. Prosecutors had sought a nine-year prison sentence. The case was opened in July 2025.

This case is part of a broader crackdown on journalists at Dozhd TV. Other staff members, including editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko and presenter Valeria Ratnikova, are facing similar charges. In 2025, presenter Anna Mongait was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

By Sabina Mammadli