The Moscow Nikolinsky Court sentenced military expert Meduza in absentia to two years and six months in a general order colony.
According to the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office, the journalist was found guilty of participating in the activities of an “undesirable” organization (first part of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code).
Under the court’s decision, Kuznets is also banned from managing websites for five years.
The reason for the criminal prosecution were six audio recordings on social networks of Meduza with the participation of Kuznets, in which he “distributes information materials related to various events taking place on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
how Notes “Mediazona,” the court announced the journalist’s sentence within about half an hour. “All of this means that the process was formal, and the judge may have prepared the text of the ruling in advance,” the post read.
Dmitry Kuznets is located outside of Russia.
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The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation declared Meduza an “undesirable” organization in January 2023, citing the fact that the publication’s activities “constitute a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation.” Since then, dozens of journalists, readers and experts who cooperated with Meduza or re-published the publication’s materials on social networks have received administrative fines under Article 20.33 of the Administrative Code (participation in “undesirable” organization activities). Criminal cases have been brought against several Meduza employees under Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code.
At the end of December 2025, the Moscow Cheryomushkinsky Court sentenced Meduza’s publisher, Galina Timchenko, in absentia to five years in prison on charges of organizing the activities of an “undesirable” organization.