American journalist Masha Gessen convicted in absentia by Russia for criticizing its military

Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Moscow court Monday for criticizing the Russian military, becoming the latest target of a crackdown on critics of the Kremlin.

Gessen was convicted in absentia on charges of disseminating “false information” about the Russian armed forces, according to the Moscow court statement.

The Russian-born journalist and writer is an opinion columnist for The New York Times and the author of numerous books about Russia, including the award–winning “The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia.”

Gessen, who lives in the United States, has been heavily critical of Moscow’s war in Ukraine and, over many years, has condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on human and LGBTQ+ rights.

In a letter posted to Facebook Monday, Gessen called the charges “illegal and unfounded.”

Gessen, who uses “they/them” pronouns, said that “as far as I understand from the indictment,” the charge is related to an interview they conducted with anti-war Russian blogger Yuri Dud, which was published on YouTube.

“In the interview, I discuss the actions of the Russian Armed Forces in the spring of 2022 in Bucha, Irpin, and other settlements in Ukraine. My statements are based on data collected during my journalistic work,” Gessen said, highlighting a series of interviews they conducted in Bucha, Irpin, Kyiv, and Kryvyi Rih in 2022, as well as their previous journalistic work in Chechnya.

“Based on this work, I believe that Russian military personnel committed a number of war crimes in Bucha, Irpin, and other settlements of Ukraine, namely: murder of civilians, illegal detentions, torture, and looting.”

“Many years of experience in other conflict zones allow me to say that these actions are not exceptional but, on the contrary, quite typical for Russian military personnel,” Gessen added. “This is exactly what was discussed in the interview with Yuri Dud.”

The YouTube interview has been viewed more than 6.6 million times since its release in September 2022.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as a number of Western states and international institutions, have accused Russia of war crimes during its ongoing war in Ukraine. In March, the ICC charged two high-ranking Russian officials with directing attacks at civilians, causing excessive harm to civilians, and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts.

While the Russian military has conducted its invasion, the Kremlin has sought to stifle criticism of its strategy at home. A number of prominent anti-war figures have been sentenced and convicted since February 2022, under vague new laws that punish what the Kremlin deems to be fake news about its military.

“Criminal prosecution is an attempt to punish me for the conscientious and consistent fulfillment of my professional duties,” Gessen said.

“I am outside the Russian Federation, so the so-called court can ‘consider’ my case, ‘arrest,’ and ‘sentence’ me only in absentia. However, I regard the criminal prosecution and putting me on the wanted list as an attempt to intimidate me and prevent me from carrying out my professional activities.”

The trial of American journalist Evan Gershkovich is meanwhile set to resume Thursday, having been brought forward at the request of the defense, Russia’s Sverdlovsk regional court has said.

Gershkovich is the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. His trial began last month, with the journalist appearing in the courtroom’s glass cage, his head recently shaved.

He was arrested while on a reporting trip for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in the city of Yekaterinburg in March 2023 and later accused of spying for the CIA. Gershkovich, the US government, and the WSJ have vehemently denied the charges against him. Within two weeks of his arrest, the US State Department designated him as wrongfully detained and called for his immediate release.