Ekaterina Barabash
Ekaterina Barabash, born 1961, 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…); “Ekaterina Barabash's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”. Sentence (March 25, 2026): 5 years’ imprisonment in absentia. Status: not in Russia. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, March 24, 2025.
In brief
Moscow, Moscow Oblast · Moscow, Pushkino · Anti-war cases, Cases against "foreign agents"
Sentence
5 years
imprisonment in absentia
No information about an appeal ruling.
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 grounds for initiating the case were posts on Facebook published in 2022 and 2023, including one from March 2022, which contained the following text: "Bastards—so you claim you want Ukraine as a friend, as a good neighbour? Is that why you invaded a foreign land with your tanks, APCs, and future corpses in uniform with rifles? Is that why you bombed the country, razed entire cities to the ground, killed a hundred children, shot civilians for no reason, kept Mariupol under blockade, and have deprived millions of people of a normal life, forcing them to flee abroad? All for the sake of friendship with Ukraine?"
Latest event
March 25, 2026 — first-instance verdict
The court delivered a guilty verdict: 5 years.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, March 24, 2025
Timeline
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 5 years
· Added to the register of “foreign agents”
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Preventive measure: house arrest
· Persecution begins
Ekaterina Barabash's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
· Preventive measure: placement in a temporary detention facility
Criminal case
Ekaterina Barabash's case of "fakes" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
- Case number
- 1-260/2025
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Details and sources
Full summary
A film critic. In 2016, she was fired from the Interfax news agency, which, according to her, was due to her criticism of the Russian authorities. She openly spoke out against the war. On February 23, 2025, she was held at the airport for several hours after returning from a film festival in Berlin -- similar things had happened on her previous returns from abroad. On February 25, Barabash was detained in connection with a criminal case on charges of disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces: among the posts attributed to her was an emotional post published in March 2022 referring to the killing of civilians in Ukraine, including children, and to the hypocrisy of the Russian authorities. On February 26, she was placed under house arrest. In April 2025, Barabash was declared wanted. On March 25, 2026, she was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.