Freelance journalist Konstantin Gabov is serving a 5.5-year prison term following his April 2025 conviction on extremism charges.
Gabov—a freelancer for Reuters, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)— was detained by Russian authorities On April 27, 2024, in Moscow. Courts placed Gabov and freelance videographer Sergey Karelin, who was detained a day before in the northern region of Murmansk on similar charges, under pretrial detention for two months.
The general jurisdiction courts of Moscow said Gabov was charged with participating in an extremist organization for preparing photos and videos for Navalny LIVE, a YouTube channel run by supporters of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian penal colony in February 2024. Russian authorities have banned Navalny LIVE as extremist since 2021. Both Gabov and Karelin denied the charges.
The charges are punishable by up to six years in prison under Article 282.1, Part 2 of Russia’s criminal code. CPJ was unable to determine exactly what materials the men were accused of producing.
Reuters said Gabov was not working for the news agency at the time of arrest.
Shortly after Gabov's arrest, the pro-Russian telegram channel Brief published a letter Brief said that was found in his possession during the search, in which Current Time TV, a Russian-language project of RFE/RL, confirmed working with the journalist.
In September 2024, Gabov’s case was sent to court and combined with Karelin’s as well as the cases against Artyom Krieger and Antonina Favorskaya, journalists with independent news outlet SOTAvision who were also accused of cooperation with Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Their trial started behind closed doors October 2, 2024.
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 the completion of their 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.