Zygar Mikhail Viktorovich

The Investigative Directorate for the YuAO of Moscow on March 12, 2024, opened a criminal case against writer and journalist Mikhail Zygar for "fakes" about the Russian army. According to the investigation, on June 27, 2022, Zygar published a post about the events in Bucha on his personal VKontakte page - with knowingly false information about the actions of the RF Armed Forces." 'Bucha is a satellite city of Kyiv from where Russian troops withdrew - leaving corpses of civilians everywhere, many with their hands tied behind their backs. Survivors also tell of mass rapes, the post says. Zygar left Russia in 2022. In April 2024, the writer was put on the wanted list. On April 16, 2024, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow issued an arrest warrant for the journalist in absentia. 23 July 2024, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow found Mikhail Zygar guilty and sentenced him in absentia to 8.5 years in a general regime penal colony. The court also deprived Zygar of the right to administer websites on the Internet for 4 years. On October 1, 2024, the Moscow City Court left the verdict in force.