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Moscow Court Sentences Dozhd Editor Tikhon Dzyadko in Absentia to 8 Years

The case shows the Kremlin using wartime speech laws with “foreign agent” rules to punish war reporting.

Overview

  • Golovinsky District Court in Moscow convicted Dzyadko in absentia and imposed eight years in prison, a 250,000‑ruble fine, and a four‑year ban on administering websites.
  • Prosecutors said his Telegram posts spread “false information” about Russian troops and accused him of evading “foreign agent” labeling rules.
  • The charges cite two posts from July and December 2022 that linked to reports on killings in Bucha and Irpin, including a New York Times investigation.
  • Authorities had already put him on a wanted list in April 2025, ordered his arrest in absentia in October, and placed him on terrorist and extremist registers.
  • The verdict continues a wider campaign against Dozhd, which halted operations in Russia in March 2022 as colleagues faced in‑absentia sentences and its foreign branches were labeled undesirable in 2023.