Politologist Snegova Sentenced to 7 Years for Reposting Drone Claim
Maria Snegova was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison by Moscow's Savelovsky District Court for reposting a claim about a bag of nails found near a Russian drone in Kharkiv, which allegedly was used to increase casualties among civilians. The court ruled she spread knowingly false information about the Russian military during the special military operation.
Consensus
- Maria Snegova was sentenced in absentia by Moscow's Savelovsky District Court.
- The sentence was seven years in prison.
- The conviction was based on Article 207.3, part 2, paragraph d of the Russian Criminal Code, related to public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces.
- The case was triggered by a repost made by Snegova in May 2025 of a post from the NEXTA Telegram channel.
- The original post claimed that a bag of nails was found near a Russian drone wreckage in Kharkiv and may have been used by Russian forces to increase casualties among civilians.
- Snegova was previously recognized as a foreign agent in November 2023.
- She is currently living abroad and was declared wanted in May 2026.
- The court also banned her from administering websites for four years.
- The court ordered her to be held in custody in absentia.
Points of divergence
- Snegova's defense attorney, Leysan Mannapova, emphasized that the post was a repost and not a commentary by Snegova herself. — tg_bbcrussian
- A linguistics expert from the Ministry of Justice, Yekaterina Kryuk, testified that the information in the post was expressed as opinion, not as a confirmed fact. — mediazona
- The court was informed about inconsistencies in a witness's testimony: the witness claimed to have seen the repost in another Telegram channel and then followed a link to Snegova’s channel, but Telegram redirects users directly to the original source (NEXTA), making it impossible for the witness to confirm Snegova’s repost. — mediazona
- Snegova was listed as an individual in the registry of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring. — vm
- The court also imposed a ban on Snegova from website administration for four years. — interfax
Coverage (7 sources)
- Political scientist Maria Snegova sentenced to seven years in absentia — ASTRA
- Court in Moscow sentenced political scientist Maria Snegova to seven years in absentia on charges of "military fake news" — Настоящее Время
- Political agent Maria Snezhnaya sentenced in absentia for fake news about Armed Forces of the Russian Federation — Интерфакс
- Political scientist Maria Snegova* sentenced in absentia in Russia: what term was given, what she is accused of — Вечерняя Москва
- Political scientist Maria Snegova sentenced in absentia in Russia to seven years — BBC News Русская служба
- Political scientist Maria Snegova sentenced to 7 years in prison for reposting about the strike on Kharkiv — Медиазона
- Political scientist Snezhnaya sentenced to seven years in prison for fake news about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation — Москва 24
Key entities
- Moscow
- Russia
- VS
- Kharkov
- Savelovsky District Court
- Nexta
- Rosfinmonitoring
- Mariya Snezegovaya
- INTERFAX.RU
- Ukraine
- Evening Moscow
- Ludmila Neferodova
- Mariya Snezhnaya