The Golovinsky District Court of Moscow has sentenced Ekaterina Kotrikadze, a journalist for the TV channel “Dozhd” (TV Rain), to eight years of imprisonment in absentia on charges of disseminating false information about the Russian army, according to Russian media reports.

The court also banned her for four years from administering websites, electronic networks, or information and telecommunications networks.

According to the Russian Prosecutor's Office, in April and August 2022, “Kotrikadze, motivated by political hatred, posted five publications on her personal channel in a messenger application, accessible to an unlimited number of users, containing deliberately false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the special military operation.”

Criminal cases have also been initiated in Russia against “Dozhd” editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko and anchors Valeria Ratnikova and Yulia Taratuta.