Valeria Ratnikova
- Criminal Code
- Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Anti-war casesCases against "foreign agents"
- Verdict
- Ban on activity, Imprisonment (in absentia)
- Sentence
- 7 years 6 months
- Date of verdict
- 2026-03-24
- Region
- Moscow
- City
- Moscow
Case summary
Journalist, anchor of the Dozhd TV channel. In 2022, she left Russia after the start of the invasion of Ukraine. In July 2025, a case was brought against her for spreading "fakes" about the Russian army with a hate motive and evasion of fulfillment of the duties of a "foreign agent." The charge of "fakes" is related to certain publications about the Russian army's crimes against civilians in Ukraine.
On 22 December 2023, the Ministry of Justice included Ratnikova in the "foreign agents" registry. In 2025, she was twice fined under administrative protocols for failure to fulfil the "foreign agent" obligations.
On 24 March 2026, the journalist was sentenced in absentia to seven and a half years on charges of "fakes." The status of the case on evasion of fulfilment of the duties of a "foreign agent" remains unknown.
Others charged under Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code
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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
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