Moscow's Basmanny District Court Judge Evgenia Kozlova sentenced producer Alexander Rodnyansky in absentia to 8 years and 6 months in a penal colony due to four anti-war publications, reported a correspondent from «Mediazona»* from the courtroom. He was also banned from writing on the internet for 4 years.
Rodnyansky was found guilty of spreading military «fakes» «motivated by political hatred», which significantly aggravates the charge. The trial was held in absentia, and the prosecution requested a 9.5-year sentence for Rodnyansky.
The producer is accused of Instagram posts from March 11, 2022, about the Russian attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol and March 16, 2022, about the killings of civilians by Russian military in Ukraine, as well as a post about Russian army attacks on civilian targets in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia.
The examination of the posts was conducted by senior experts from the Investigative Committee's Forensic Expert Center, Ekaterina Tsvetkova and Maria Selivanova. Tsvetkova concluded that Rodnyansky's posts contained «statements of facts» about the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol and the killings of civilians by Russian troops. She emphasized that Rodnyansky did not specify concrete sources of information.
Two defense experts were questioned in court, who reviewed the prosecution's examination. They called the conclusions unfounded.
Alexander Rodnyansky — a citizen of Ukraine, was born in Kyiv. He participated in the creation of films such as «Loveless», «A Driver for Vera», «East-West», and «1001 Recipes of a Love Cook». The producer has repeatedly spoken out against the war and regularly publishes anti-war posts on his Instagram. At the end of October 2022, the Ministry of Justice declared him a «foreign agent». In mid-May 2023, the Basmanny District Court arrested Rodnyansky in absentia on charges of military «fakes».
* Recognized as «foreign agents» in Russia.
**Meta, the owner of Instagram, is recognized as an «extremist» organization in Russia.
Photo: RIA Novosti