Moscow condemns military bloggers for "misinformation"
If they exercise criticism or disclose sensitive information, Russian war bloggers can expect to end up in court. Just in January, ultranationalist Girkin went to prison for his Kremlin-critical blog posts. Now, his colleague Kurschin also has to serve time.
A Russian military blogger has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for spreading "false information" about the armed forces. The Moscow court press service announced this. Andrei Kurschin "deliberately spread false information about the Russian armed forces," it said. He must serve his sentence in a labor camp.
The charges relate to two publications by the former soldier on his "Moscow Calling" channel on the Telegram online service, as reported by the news portal Mediazona. According to this, he wrote about a Russian attack in the Ukrainian Kryvyi Rih that affected the water supply, as well as an attack on a maternity hospital in the Saporizhzhia region.
The convicted person reportedly fought with the Moscow-backed Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine from 2014. Later, he criticized the Russian offensive in Ukraine, according to Mediazona.
Girkin sentenced to four years in prison
The Russian authorities' actions against Kremlin-critical voices are increasingly targeting military bloggers who, for example, criticize military strategies or possibly publish sensitive information. In January, nationalist blogger and former separatist leader Igor Girkin was sentenced to four years in prison for a series of Kremlin-critical posts. The Moscow City Court imposed the sentence because he called for extremism, as reported by the Interfax agency. Girkin is also banned from leading online media for three years.
Girkin is a supporter of the Russian invasion of Ukraine but a sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin. The former officer of the FSB internal security service led the uprising of Russian forces in the Ukrainian Donbass in 2014. He was convicted in absentia of murder in the Netherlands for his role in the downing of a passenger plane over eastern Ukraine with 298 deaths. Girkin lived undisturbed in Russia for a long time.
Following the sentencing of ultranationalist Girkin for his Kremlin-critical blog posts, another Russian military blogger, Kurschin, is now serving time for spreading "false information" about the Russian armed forces. Like Girkin, Kurschin's criticisms of Russia's military strategies and disclosure of sensitive information have also led to legal consequences, with charges relating to his publications about the Ukrainian Kryvyi Rih and the Saporizhzhia region.
The increasing targeting of Kremlin-critical voices by Russian authorities, as shown in the cases of Girkin and Kurschin, raises concerns about freedom of speech and information in Russia.
