Vasilisa Shishkina spent years reporting on the lives of people in Russia's Republic of Buryatia: families looking for missing relatives, forest fires, the decisions of regional officials and the struggles of men called up for military service. Among her subjects were mobilized workers who had been unable to secure the exemptions their employers believed they were entitled to. On May 21, 2026, Buryatia's Supreme Court sentenced her to 12 years in a penal colony on a treason charge. The proceedings were closed, and the public still does not know what acts the authorities alleged she had committed. News of the verdict became widely known only after an appeal hearing in August.
A reporter whose stories began with ordinary people
Shishkina worked for Nomer Odin (Number One), a regional publication in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia's capital. She held an editorial position there between 2016 and 2024. Its archives retain her byline on stories about missing residents, people asking the authorities for help, public services and local controversies. According to The Moscow Times, she was recognised as a People's Rescuer at a journalism festival in 2013, years before her imprisonment.
Much of this work began when people came to the newsroom with their letters, official responses and court papers. Journalists could follow an individual dispute through public institutions and show readers how decisions affected daily life. Following Russia's partial mobilization in September 2022, such disputes increasingly involved men sent to the war in Ukraine and employers who could no longer operate normally without them.
Firefighters sent to war
In June 2023, Shishkina published a report about forest protection employees who had been mobilized despite their vital work in Buryatia. As the region entered its wildfire season, the loss of trained staff became a matter of public safety. Their employers sought exemptions that would allow the men to return to fighting forest fires, but reported resistance from military recruitment offices.
In August, Shishkina reported a successful challenge in court: a forest firefighter had established his right to exemption, and others had also been able to return to work after litigation. Her coverage recorded the difficulties confronting those workers and the practical results of persistent legal and public pressure.
Later that autumn she wrote about a full-time university student whom his relatives were trying to bring home from the military, and about an employer trying to secure an exemption for a forestry worker. These were stories of separated families, understaffed workplaces and people compelled to pursue protections already provided in regulations. The articles bear Shishkina's name and remain available in the newspaper's archive.
They establish what she was reporting on. They do not establish that any particular story formed part of the treason accusation against her. The prosecution's underlying allegations remain undisclosed, and no verified public document connects a specific report to a specific criminal charge.
An arrest that remained largely out of public view
According to lawyer Vasily Dubkov, Shishkina has been in custody since July 17, 2025. Buryatia's Supreme Court heard the case behind closed doors on grounds of state secrecy. It has not publicly explained the conduct described in the indictment. On May 21, 2026, the court imposed 12 years in a general-regime penal colony, followed by one year of restricted liberty.
Her family initially kept the case out of public view. A person close to the proceedings told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that relatives believed publicity might reduce the prospect of a more lenient outcome. That choice deserves respect. The family's desire for privacy does not make the imprisonment any less consequential, and it is not grounds for exposing private details about her relatives.
After the appeal, Dubkov spoke publicly on Shishkina's instructions. On August 6, the Fifth Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in Novosibirsk upheld the 12-year sentence. It also changed the way time in pretrial custody was credited: rather than counting one day in detention as one and a half days in a general-regime colony, it ordered day-for-day credit. The nominal 12-year sentence did not change, but the calculation of time served became less favourable to Shishkina.
A treason conviction without a public explanation
The charge was brought under Article 275 of Russia's Criminal Code, covering treason. Beyond the legal label, there is no verified public description of what prosecutors alleged Shishkina did. Dubkov said secrecy rules prevented him from disclosing details. As a result, neither a supposed recipient of information nor any particular document or transaction can responsibly be presented as part of the established case.
Evgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with the independent rights group Perviy Otdel, told CPJ he understood the prosecution to stem from Shishkina preparing and publishing articles for an outlet that Russia had designated “undesirable.” He did not identify the organisation, and CPJ expressly said it could not independently verify the claim. This is a reported possible explanation for the prosecution, not a disclosed or proven indictment.
CPJ called on Russian officials to explain the prosecution and condemned the use of politically motivated charges against journalists. The significance of Shishkina's case lies not in attempting to reconstruct the legal theory of a secret trial, but in what happened to a regional reporter and how little the public has been told about a sentence that will deprive her of freedom for many years.
Press freedom and the right to a fair trial
International human rights standards protect reporting on public affairs, war and alleged abuses of authority. National-security restrictions may be imposed only subject to strict legal safeguards. A closed hearing does not alone establish every possible violation, but a 12-year sentence imposed on a journalist without a publicly explained factual basis raises profound concerns about transparency, freedom of expression and the ability of independent observers to assess the treatment of the defendant.
The Memorial political prisoners support project records Shishkina's case among those prosecuted on treason allegations, while CPJ lists her among imprisoned journalists. Memorial's coverage or inclusion in a category should not be misrepresented as a separately published decision formally recognising her as a political prisoner. CPJ's position is clear: the case raises grave concerns about potential retaliation for her reporting, and Russian authorities should stop using politically motivated prosecutions to silence the press.
What is known as of October 2026
The latest clearly documented information about Shishkina's location dates to August 2026, when her lawyer said she was being held at Pretrial Detention Centre No. 1 in Novosibirsk. The sentence taking effect does not in itself confirm that she has been transferred to a particular penal colony. As of October 22, no reliable newer public account has been found identifying her current facility, medical condition, prison conditions or a further change in her case. For that reason, this article does not provide an address for correspondence.
Shishkina is listed in FACTUM's database of persecuted journalists. The number in the verdict — 12 years — tells only part of the story. The rest can be found in her old reports: the firefighters trying to return home, the employers asking officials to honour exemptions, the families seeking answers, and the work of a journalist who can no longer report freely on their behalf.