Journalist Olesia Krivtsova sentenced in absentia to six years in prison
A military court in Severomorsk has sentenced former Arkhangelsk student and now Barents Observer journalist Olesia Krivtsova, in absentia, to six years' imprisonment on charges of "discrediting the army" and "justifying terrorism".
Krivtsova (23) received the news from the court in the closed military town of Severomorsk late on Friday afternoon.
"Ten minutes ago, I called the court secretary and asked about the court's decision. Reluctantly, she said, 'Wait.' A minute later, she told me: 'Six years' imprisonment.' I wished her a good day, and we said goodbye," Krivtsova said calmly.
"As I said in my final statement, I do not care what sentence I receive, even if it is life imprisonment. Today, my sister and I went to a water park, and I am already on my way to eat ice cream."
The criminal case against Krivtsova was opened in December 2022 after she reposted a message in a student chat on VKontakte about the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. She had been openly critical of Russia's ongoing, unprovoked war against Ukraine.
At the time, Krivtsova was 19 years old and a student with the Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU) in Arkhangelsk.
She was placed under house arrest awaiting trial, but in March 2023 she cut her electronic tracking bracelet and left Russia via Belarus to Vilnius in Lithuania. A few months later, she was hired by the Barents Observer in Kirkenes, northern Norway.
"I am glad this trial dragged on for so long and that a huge amount of public money was spent on it rather than on persecuting people inside Russia or funding the war in Ukraine," she said on Friday.
"More than three and a half years after the criminal case began, my thoughts are with those who are imprisoned for their beliefs."
In her final statement before the military court, Krivtsova said she had no regrets.
"If I were 19 again, I would do the same thing and write the same thing—only without the grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. But I'm already 23," she said.
The first long-read article Olesia Krivtsova wrote for the Barents Observer was about how state actors crushed the protest movement in the Arkhangelsk region.
Krivtsova is the second of the four exiled journalists working for the Barents Observer to be sentenced in absentia.
In July 2025, a Russian military court sentenced former state television presenter Farida Kurbangaleeva to eight years' imprisonment in absentia on charges of spreading "false information" about the military and "justifying terrorism". Kurbangaleeva joined the Barents Observer as news editor for its Russian-language edition in April this year.
Russian political repression has since 2022 reached levels unseen since the Soviet era.
Driven by wartime censorship laws, the Kremlin maintains state control through the mass persecution of anti-war critics, independent journalists, and civil society. Hundreds of thousands have fled the country, while those who remain face arbitrary arrests, harsh prison terms, and severe transnational repression even while abroad.
