Russian court hears nine-year sentence sought for ASTRA editor-in-chief

Russian prosecutors have sought a nine-year prison sentence for Anastasia Chumakova, founder and editor-in-chief of the ASTRA media outlet, in a case involving allegations of disseminating “fake news” about the Russian armed forces and violating legislation governing “foreign agents.”

Chumakova faces charges under paragraph (d), Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code, concerning the public dissemination of information about the armed forces that investigators allege is knowingly false and motivated by political hatred or hatred toward Russian servicemen as a social group. She is also charged under Part 2 of Article 330.1 over alleged violations of “foreign agent” requirements. Recent reporting by the Investigative Committee says the case was transferred to a Ulyanovsk court after an investigation conducted against Chumakova in absentia.

The first charge relates to nine publications posted by ASTRA and on Chumakova’s personal Telegram channel in March and April 2022. The material concerned events in Bucha in the Kyiv region and was based on accounts from local residents and eyewitnesses. Investigators argue that the information was false and that the publications were driven by political hatred and hostility toward Russian military personnel as a social group.

The second charge concerns Russia’s legislation on “foreign agents.” Chumakova is accused of publishing ASTRA material without the mandatory designation.

Her defence disputes that the relevant requirements applied directly to her. Chumakova was not personally entered in the Justice Ministry’s “foreign agents” register; rather, she was listed as an individual affiliated with a designated “foreign agent,” while ASTRA itself was placed on the register. Her lawyer, Zakhar Lebedev, argues that she therefore could not be prosecuted for violating obligations imposed on registered “foreign agents.”

At the end of the court arguments, the defence asked for Chumakova to be acquitted on both charges and for her right to rehabilitation to be recognised.

The proceedings are being conducted in absentia in a district court in Ulyanovsk. Chumakova remains outside Russia. In September 2026, the Investigative Committee said she had been placed on both the federal and interstate wanted lists and that a court had ordered her detention in absentia.

The case follows a series of measures against Chumakova. She was placed on an interstate wanted list in November 2025, according to ASTRA, after authorities opened a criminal case concerning publications about the Russian military. In October 2025, she was added to the Russian financial-monitoring agency’s register of “extremists and terrorists.”

A separate criminal case over alleged evasion of “foreign agent” obligations was opened in January 2026. Chumakova was subsequently arrested in absentia on June 1 in the military “fake news” case. Her mother’s home in Ulyanovsk had earlier been searched as part of the investigation, and Chumakova had previously received administrative fines over allegations that she failed to identify herself as the head of a media outlet designated a “foreign agent.”

ASTRA was itself designated a “foreign agent” in October 2024, while Chumakova was not personally entered in that register.

By Tamilla Hasanova