Ukrainian journalist Hennadiy Osmak is serving a sentence of three years and two months after a Russian court convicted him on August 13, 2024, on charges of participating in an illegal armed group. Occupying Russian forces detained Osmak in early March 2024 in Ukraine’s Kherson region.
Osmak is the former editor-in-chief of Novy Vizit (New Visit), a website that covered regional news and Crimean Tatar organizations in the city of Henichesk in Ukraine’s southeast, which has been occupied by Russia since February 24, 2022. Novy Vizit was “the most popular local online media in Henichesk and Henichesk district,” Ukrainian journalist Oleh Baturyn told CPJ.
Russian authorities blocked Novy Vizit’s website on February 24, 2022, according to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), a local advocacy and trade group. The occupying authorities gave Osmak an ultimatum to either cooperate with them or hand over access to Novy Vizit. Osmak gave them access to the website, but announced that he had stopped working for Novy Vizit as of March 12. The website started to publish news about the activities of occupation authorities, but has been offline since April 2022.
In July 2024, Russia added Osmak to its list of "terrorists and extremists."
On August 13, a Russian court in Henichesk convicted Osmak of “participating in an illegal armed group” and sentenced him to three years and two months in prison. On August 15, two days after his conviction, the Kherson branch of the Russian general prosecutor’s office claimed the journalist had provided informational and propaganda support to the disbanded Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion, a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that Russia has designated a terrorist organization.
NUJU’s head Sergiy Tomilenko told CPJ that the charges were groundless and that Osmak was prosecuted in retaliation for his journalism.
NUJU reported in October 2024 that Osmak had serious health problems, including diabetes, and that his condition had “deteriorated significantly” after he was subjected to “brutal” treatment in detention. CPJ was not able to obtain additional information about his condition.
In late 2024, CPJ emailed the Kherson branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee for comment but received no response.