Russian journalist faces “fake news” charges for criticising 2008 war in Georgia

The Tagansky District Court in Moscow has begun hearing a criminal case against Valeria Kichigina, an editor of the independent TV channel "Dozhd" (Rain).

She is accused of spreading “fake news” in two instances: an Instagram story about the Russia–Georgia war of 2008, and a repost of journalist Dmitry Kolezev’s article about Bucha, the Ukrainian town Russian forces invaded first after the start of war in late February 2022, Caliber.Az reports, citing Novaya Gazeta Europe.

According to the channel, investigators began searching for Kichigina as early as August 2023, when she was still in Russia.

She posted on Instagram that “for 15 years, 20% of Georgia has been occupied by Russia.” Two weeks later she left the country; she was not questioned at the border.

The criminal case was opened only in November 2024, and in January 2025, law enforcement officers searched the journalist’s family home. Kichigina believes the investigation may be connected to her reporting on the Baymak case, which she covered as part of her work.

The channel notes that this is the first time a “fake news” charge about the Russian army has been used in relation to the Georgia war, rather than the war in Ukraine.

By Khagan Isayev