Artyom Krieger, a Russian journalist with the independent news outlet SOTAvision is serving a 5.5-year prison term after being convicted in April 2025 on extremism charges.
Russian authorities detained Krieger in June 2024 for allegedly participating in the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which Russian authorities have banned as extremist. Navalny died February 2024 in a Russian penal colony.
Krieger’s brother, Aleksandr, told SOTAvision that the law enforcement officers arrived at his brother’s Moscow apartment around 6 a.m. on June 18. Aleksandr said the officers searched the apartment for four hours, checking all electronic and storage devices, taking press cards and a phone, and asking Artyom if he recognized any of the names on a list that included Navalny. The journalist was then taken to Russia’s Investigation Committee for questioning.
That same day, the Basmanny district court in Moscow placed Krieger under pretrial detention for two months on charges of participating in the activities of an “extremist organization.” The pretrial detention was extended several times. The charges are punishable by up to six years in prison under Article 282.1, Part 2 of Russia’s criminal code.
SOTAvision rejected the charges against Krieger, saying that he had covered protests and high-profile trials and “has never been an activist and was not affiliated with any parties or movements.”
On June 27, 2024, Krieger was added to Russia’s list of “terrorists and extremists.”
Krieger’s case was combined with the cases against Antonina Favorskaya, another SOTAvision journalist, and freelance journalists Sergey Karelin and Konstantin Gabov, also accused of cooperating with Navalny’s FBK. The trial of the four journalists started behind closed doors on October 2. All have denied the charges.
Krieger told his outlet in October 2024 that his health was “fine,” but that the detention “affects my morale and physical condition.”
Previously, Krieger was detained for eight days in 2022 for “participating in a demonstration that caused obstruction” while livestreaming for SOTAvision.
On April 15, 2025, Favorskaya, Krieger, Gabov, and Karelin were sentenced by a Moscow court to five years and six months in prison on extremism charges. The court also banned them from publishing any content on the internet for three years after they complete their prison sentences.
In April 2025, CPJ filled out an online form requesting comment on the charges from the Moscow branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee for comment but received no response.