Roman Anin
Roman Anin, born 1986, Moscow. Charges: Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code (Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government…); “The case of Ekaterina Fomina and Roman Anin of "fake facts" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”. Sentence (March 31, 2025): 8 years 6 months' imprisonment in absentia. Status: not in Russia.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Journalists · Anti-war cases, Cases against "foreign agents"
Sentence
8 years 6 months
imprisonment in absentia
Upheld November 17, 2025
Charges
- Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code — Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government agencies, or mercenaries (based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on grounds of hatred or enmity in relation to any social group)
Full wording of the charges
The case was initiated following an interview conducted by former journalist of Vazhnyye Istorii (Important Stories), Ekaterina Fomina, with serviceman Daniil Frolkin. During the interview, he admitted to being involved in the killing of civilians in the Kyiv region and other crimes.
Latest event
November 17, 2025 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 8 years 6 months
· Persecution begins
The case of Ekaterina Fomina and Roman Anin of "fake facts" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
· Preventive measure: arrest in absentia
· Added to the register of “foreign agents”
Criminal case
The case of Ekaterina Fomina and Roman Anin of "fake facts" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
- Case number
- 01-0437/2024
Other defendants in the case
- Ekaterina Fomina — Not in Russia, 8 years 6 months
Thematic group: Anti-war case; The case of iStories media publication
Details and sources
Full summary
Investigative journalist, special correspondent of the Investigations Department of Novaya Gazeta and one of the founders of the publication Important Stories. On 20 August 2021, he was included in the register of media "foreign agents". He is the author of a 2016 investigation into the assets of Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft, which led to FSB searches in April 2021 at his apartment and at the editorial office of Important Stories. Roman Anin was involved as a witness in the case concerning the violation of the privacy of Sechin’s wife, Olga, whose Instagram photos he had used in his investigation.
On 17 June 2024, it became known that Anin had been declared wanted. On the same day, he was arrested in absentia in a case for disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces. The case was prompted by a publication in Important Stories, in which a private in the Russian army admitted involvement in the killing of civilians. On 31 March 2025, Anin was sentenced in absentia to eight and a half years and deprived of Russian citizenship.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Preventive measures
- arrest in absentia
Other people prosecuted under Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.