Moscow City Court on July 29 sentenced Darya Shipacheva to 12 years in a strict-regime penal colony on a treason charge under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code, with 1.5 million rubles confiscated [1]. The trial was held behind closed doors and no details of the case were officially released.

Shipacheva pleaded guilty and received the minimum sentence for the offense. In a short video posted by independent news outlet Mediazona from inside the courtroom, she looked shocked as the verdict was announced [1]. According to Mediazona, she specialized in science and medical journalism and worked for several prominent Russian media organizations.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, prior to the verdict, counted 29 journalists imprisoned in Russia in connection with their work — a ledger that has grown steadily since Russia tightened censorship laws and increased pressure on independent media following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine [1][2].

The European Federation of Journalists called the sentence "a devastating blow to press freedom," noting that the closed-door trial prevented any public scrutiny of the evidence [2]. Radio Free Europe reported that the charges stemmed from an alleged money transfer to Ukraine, though this has not been independently verified [3].

This is a press-freedom record, not a war report — a journalist sentenced for her work, tried behind closed doors, counted in an institutional ledger. The sentence adds another entry to Russia's growing list of imprisoned journalists.

-- MAYA CALLOWAY, New York