Moscow City Court sentenced Darya Shipacheva, a 35-year-old science and medical journalist, to 12 years in a penal colony on July 29 after finding her guilty of treason. [1]
Shipacheva pleaded guilty and received the minimum sentence for the offense under Article 275 of Russia's Criminal Code. The court also fined her 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,800) and ordered the confiscation of 1.558 million rubles. [2]
The trial was held behind closed doors. No details of the case were officially released. Interfax reported, citing other media, that the charges stemmed from an alleged money transfer to Ukraine. [1] According to acquaintances cited by the independent outlet T-invariant, the transfer was made to a civilian relative in Ukraine — not a military recipient.
Shipacheva worked as a freelance science and medical journalist for RBC, Forbes Russia, Takie Dela, and Wonderzine. She also published a book on medicine called Bez paniki ("Don't Panic") and organized rallies in support of the Khachaturian sisters and feminist activist Yulia Tsvetkova. [2] Before her arrest in April 2025, she had received threats from the ultra-nationalist Male State movement due to her feminist stance.
Her friend Taya told the independent journalist cooperative Bereg that Shipacheva chose to stay in Russia after the war began because she loved Moscow and worried about being seen as a traitor by those who had left. "She expressed fairly patriotic views — not the flag-waving kind, but more along the lines of, 'I love Russia, I love the people here. Moscow is my home,'" Taya said. [2]
The International and European Federations of Journalists condemned the sentencing. "We condemn the sentencing of journalist Daria Shipacheva to 12 years in prison on baseless charges following a 90-minute closed hearing," the organizations said. [2]
Judge Sergei Podoprigorov, who presided over the case, previously sanctioned the detention of Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who died in custody in 2009, and was among the first officials placed on the U.S. Magnitsky list. [2]
Russia has convicted a record 312 people on charges of treason, espionage, and illegal collaboration with a foreign state in the first half of 2026, according to the exiled outlet Vyorstka. [2]
-- ANNA WEBER, Berlin