Varlamov Ilya Aleksandrovich

In late November 2024, a criminal case was initiated in absentia against journalist and blogger Ilya Varlamov in Moscow for failing to fulfill the obligations of a foreign agent. Varlamova was included in the list of foreign agents on March 23, 2023. After that, the journalist was repeatedly fined for non-compliance with "foreign agent" obligations. According to the investigation, Varlamov continued to distribute public messages in the social network without indicating that they were created and distributed by a foreign agent. Later a second criminal case was opened against Varlamov — about the spread of "fakes" about the Russian army on the grounds of political and ideological hatred. The reason for the criminal prosecution was a video on the blogger's YouTube channel from 23 November 2023 about Russian strikes on Kryvyi Rih and Odesa. Cases about "fakes" and about being an agent of a foreign state were combined into one case. Ilya Varlamov is outside of Russia. Since February 2022, the blogger has been actively speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has also created the 'Together' project to unite people who left Russia after the Russian invasion." 4. On August 14, 2025, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow found Ilya Varlamov guilty and sentenced him in absentia to 8 years in a general regime colony and a fine of 99.5 million rubles.