Mediazona English
@en.zona.media
Independent news from Russia. Investigative reporting, courtroom live-blogging, digital censorship coverage (now censored in Russia)
https://en.zona.media/
https://en.zona.media/
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Mediazona English
@en.zona.media
· Mar 31
Mediazona on the brink. We need 5,000 monthly subscribers to survive
Mediazona is running out of money. We’ve had to cut staff and slash salaries. Editor-in-chief Sergey Smirnov and editor Dmitry Treshchanin will now be working without pay. If thing...
en.zona.media
THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. Mediazona is struggling.
We’ve tracked 100K Russian casualties in Ukraine. Covered political prisoners repression. We survived Putin’s censors.
Our reporters risk prison. Our editors will now work without pay. We need your help: en.zona.media/article/2025...
We’ve tracked 100K Russian casualties in Ukraine. Covered political prisoners repression. We survived Putin’s censors.
Our reporters risk prison. Our editors will now work without pay. We need your help: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Russian army in 2025: from battlefield “meat grinder” to courtroom data purges.
Our 2025 year end analysis reveals record bloodshed and a fresh cover-up: just today, Russian courts wiped thousands of MIA case files overnight
Read the report: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Our 2025 year end analysis reveals record bloodshed and a fresh cover-up: just today, Russian courts wiped thousands of MIA case files overnight
Read the report: en.zona.media/article/2025...
December 30, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Russian army in 2025: from battlefield “meat grinder” to courtroom data purges.
Our 2025 year end analysis reveals record bloodshed and a fresh cover-up: just today, Russian courts wiped thousands of MIA case files overnight
Read the report: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Our 2025 year end analysis reveals record bloodshed and a fresh cover-up: just today, Russian courts wiped thousands of MIA case files overnight
Read the report: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Used on the front lines, denied Russian citizenship, jailed at home.
We investigated the surge in jail sentences for Kazakh men returning from Ukraine war, abandoned by Russia and criminalised by the country they left behind
en.zona.media/article/2025...
We investigated the surge in jail sentences for Kazakh men returning from Ukraine war, abandoned by Russia and criminalised by the country they left behind
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Five years for enlisting. Kazakhstan prosecutes hundreds of citizens for fighting in Ukraine
Всего за время войны силовики возбудили больше 700 дел об участии во вторжении
en.zona.media
December 30, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Used on the front lines, denied Russian citizenship, jailed at home.
We investigated the surge in jail sentences for Kazakh men returning from Ukraine war, abandoned by Russia and criminalised by the country they left behind
en.zona.media/article/2025...
We investigated the surge in jail sentences for Kazakh men returning from Ukraine war, abandoned by Russia and criminalised by the country they left behind
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Russian prosecutors have declared The George Washington University “undesirable.”
The reason is “a special analytical center” on Russia providing a platform for “anti-Russian statements, reports aimed at discrediting Russia” (not naming the center)
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The reason is “a special analytical center” on Russia providing a platform for “anti-Russian statements, reports aimed at discrediting Russia” (not naming the center)
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December 29, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Russian prosecutors have declared The George Washington University “undesirable.”
The reason is “a special analytical center” on Russia providing a platform for “anti-Russian statements, reports aimed at discrediting Russia” (not naming the center)
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The reason is “a special analytical center” on Russia providing a platform for “anti-Russian statements, reports aimed at discrediting Russia” (not naming the center)
1/3
An employee of Yaroslavl Pedagogical University is fined 20,000 roubles ($250) for posting links to IELTS (managed by the British Council), Yale University, and the Carnegie Foundation on the institution's website. All these organisations are considered "undesirable" in Russia
December 26, 2025 at 10:52 AM
An employee of Yaroslavl Pedagogical University is fined 20,000 roubles ($250) for posting links to IELTS (managed by the British Council), Yale University, and the Carnegie Foundation on the institution's website. All these organisations are considered "undesirable" in Russia
Galina Timchenko, the publisher of independent Russian outlet @meduza.io, was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for leading an “undesirable organization” by a court in Moscow. The charges are based on three video interviews Timchenko gave
Photo: Zuma / TASS
Photo: Zuma / TASS
December 26, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Galina Timchenko, the publisher of independent Russian outlet @meduza.io, was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for leading an “undesirable organization” by a court in Moscow. The charges are based on three video interviews Timchenko gave
Photo: Zuma / TASS
Photo: Zuma / TASS
Darya Kozyreva, 19, has been sentenced to 2yrs 8mos for “discrediting” the Russian army and is now held in a penal colony in Kineshma. Her lawyer, after visiting her, says she’s “in a very tough spot emotionally”.
Read her statement to the court: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Read her statement to the court: en.zona.media/article/2025...
“Ukraine has already won”. Defiant statement by a Russian teenager sentenced to 2 years 8 months for anti‑war remarks and Schevchenko poetry
Petrogradsky district court in Saint Petersburg has sentenced 19-year-old Darya Kozyreva to two years and eight months in prison for “discrediting” the Russian army, after she spen...
en.zona.media
December 23, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Darya Kozyreva, 19, has been sentenced to 2yrs 8mos for “discrediting” the Russian army and is now held in a penal colony in Kineshma. Her lawyer, after visiting her, says she’s “in a very tough spot emotionally”.
Read her statement to the court: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Read her statement to the court: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Roman Anin, founder of investigative outlet @istories_eng
, is stripped of Russian citizenship due to conviction in absentia for his journalistic work. Anin became a citizen in 2006. In spring, he was found guilty of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army in 3 videos on war
, is stripped of Russian citizenship due to conviction in absentia for his journalistic work. Anin became a citizen in 2006. In spring, he was found guilty of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army in 3 videos on war
December 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Roman Anin, founder of investigative outlet @istories_eng
, is stripped of Russian citizenship due to conviction in absentia for his journalistic work. Anin became a citizen in 2006. In spring, he was found guilty of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army in 3 videos on war
, is stripped of Russian citizenship due to conviction in absentia for his journalistic work. Anin became a citizen in 2006. In spring, he was found guilty of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army in 3 videos on war
Censorship doesn’t always look like black bars over text. Sometimes, it’s just quiet erasure.
Mediazona found that the Russian translation of the classic @esquire report on the 2004 Beslan terrorist attack by @cjchivers was quietly censored
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Mediazona found that the Russian translation of the classic @esquire report on the 2004 Beslan terrorist attack by @cjchivers was quietly censored
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Censoring Beslan. What has been cut from the Russian translation of “The School” by C.J. Chivers, a classic report about the 2004 terrorist attack
C. J. Chivers’ “The School” was published in the June 2006 issue of Esquire magazine. By that time, Chivers, a retired Marine, had been the The New York Times’ Moscow correspondent...
en.zona.media
December 22, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Censorship doesn’t always look like black bars over text. Sometimes, it’s just quiet erasure.
Mediazona found that the Russian translation of the classic @esquire report on the 2004 Beslan terrorist attack by @cjchivers was quietly censored
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Mediazona found that the Russian translation of the classic @esquire report on the 2004 Beslan terrorist attack by @cjchivers was quietly censored
en.zona.media/article/2025...
A car exploded in a parking lot in southern Moscow. Telegram channels report 56 y.o. driver of Kia Sorento received multiple shrapnel wounds and died. According to VChK-OGPU, it's Major General Fanil Sarvarov, head of Russian Armed Forces' operational training department
December 22, 2025 at 7:04 AM
A car exploded in a parking lot in southern Moscow. Telegram channels report 56 y.o. driver of Kia Sorento received multiple shrapnel wounds and died. According to VChK-OGPU, it's Major General Fanil Sarvarov, head of Russian Armed Forces' operational training department
Stoptime street band musicians perform in Lithuania with Noize MC and Monetochka after weeks in jail for playing their songs on St Petersburg streets.
The musicians fled Russia to escape “carousel arrests” and joined banned artists on stage
📹Mediazona
en.zona.media/article/2025...
The musicians fled Russia to escape “carousel arrests” and joined banned artists on stage
📹Mediazona
en.zona.media/article/2025...
December 20, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Stoptime street band musicians perform in Lithuania with Noize MC and Monetochka after weeks in jail for playing their songs on St Petersburg streets.
The musicians fled Russia to escape “carousel arrests” and joined banned artists on stage
📹Mediazona
en.zona.media/article/2025...
The musicians fled Russia to escape “carousel arrests” and joined banned artists on stage
📹Mediazona
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Yet another bloody year for the Russian army.
The Kremlin hides the human cost of this war; we count it and reveal it. 156,161 Russian soldiers confirmed dead by name.
Read our final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
The Kremlin hides the human cost of this war; we count it and reveal it. 156,161 Russian soldiers confirmed dead by name.
Read our final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
December 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Yet another bloody year for the Russian army.
The Kremlin hides the human cost of this war; we count it and reveal it. 156,161 Russian soldiers confirmed dead by name.
Read our final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
The Kremlin hides the human cost of this war; we count it and reveal it. 156,161 Russian soldiers confirmed dead by name.
Read our final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
The death of Stanislav Orlov (call sign “Spaniard”), leader of the Russian far-right “Española” brigade, has been confirmed by the unit. Earlier, various media reported that he was killed during his arrest. A farewell ceremony will be held at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior
December 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
The death of Stanislav Orlov (call sign “Spaniard”), leader of the Russian far-right “Española” brigade, has been confirmed by the unit. Earlier, various media reported that he was killed during his arrest. A farewell ceremony will be held at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior
Reposted by Mediazona English
Yet another bloody year.
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
December 19, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Yet another bloody year.
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Yet another bloody year.
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
December 19, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Yet another bloody year.
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
While the Kremlin prepares the army for a long war (negotiations notwithstanding) and hides the toll, our latest figures reveal it: 156,161 confirmed named deaths.
Read Mediazona’s final update of 2025:
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Prisoners’ rights defender Alexei Sokolov is under arrest on a “treason” charge for reporting torture in the penal system. His colleagues Roman Kachanov and Larisa Zakharova are also jailed—under Russia’s “undesirable organisations” law
en.zona.media/article/2025...
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Prison reports, prison term. Ural human rights defender faces “treason” case after detailing prison system abuses
A court in Yekaterinburg has ordered the Ural human rights defender Alexei Sokolov held in pre-trial detention on a charge of treason (Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal code), a Med...
en.zona.media
December 18, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Prisoners’ rights defender Alexei Sokolov is under arrest on a “treason” charge for reporting torture in the penal system. His colleagues Roman Kachanov and Larisa Zakharova are also jailed—under Russia’s “undesirable organisations” law
en.zona.media/article/2025...
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Russia’s MoD claims it has found 48% of soldiers MIA in Ukraine.
If that’s true, the total number could be over 180,000: court filings to declare servicemen dead or missing have surged, hitting ~2,000 new cases a week by year’s end
en.zona.media/article/2025...
If that’s true, the total number could be over 180,000: court filings to declare servicemen dead or missing have surged, hitting ~2,000 new cases a week by year’s end
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Russia’s MoD says it has “found every second” soldier missing in Ukraine. Mediazona has so far counted 90,000 court claims seeking to have them declared dead
At the Defence Ministry’s annual collegium meeting for 2025, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov reported on efforts to trace soldiers missing in action, work that only properly got u...
en.zona.media
December 17, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Russia’s MoD claims it has found 48% of soldiers MIA in Ukraine.
If that’s true, the total number could be over 180,000: court filings to declare servicemen dead or missing have surged, hitting ~2,000 new cases a week by year’s end
en.zona.media/article/2025...
If that’s true, the total number could be over 180,000: court filings to declare servicemen dead or missing have surged, hitting ~2,000 new cases a week by year’s end
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Our work dismantles the silence that enables violence.
From verifying 153,000 Russian military deaths to tracking the fate of Ukrainians in detention, Mediazona reports because you make it possible.
Now, we need to move from survival mode to stability: en.zona.media/article/2025...
From verifying 153,000 Russian military deaths to tracking the fate of Ukrainians in detention, Mediazona reports because you make it possible.
Now, we need to move from survival mode to stability: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Mediazona is still standing. Help us keep reporting on Russia when it matters most
Mediazona is no stranger to working through crises, but 2025 brought us to the very brink of survival. To save the newsroom, we were forced to cut costs drastically. We scaled back...
en.zona.media
December 17, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Our work dismantles the silence that enables violence.
From verifying 153,000 Russian military deaths to tracking the fate of Ukrainians in detention, Mediazona reports because you make it possible.
Now, we need to move from survival mode to stability: en.zona.media/article/2025...
From verifying 153,000 Russian military deaths to tracking the fate of Ukrainians in detention, Mediazona reports because you make it possible.
Now, we need to move from survival mode to stability: en.zona.media/article/2025...
Exclusive: A district court in the city of Yaroslavl fined Yaroslavl State University official Alexander Dugin (an administrator, not the infamous theorist) under Russia’s “undesirable organizations” law for keeping Yale University materials in the university e-library
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December 16, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Exclusive: A district court in the city of Yaroslavl fined Yaroslavl State University official Alexander Dugin (an administrator, not the infamous theorist) under Russia’s “undesirable organizations” law for keeping Yale University materials in the university e-library
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Russia’s Supreme Court went live for a hearing, a rarity. In a country where court hearings haven’t been broadcast in ages, this is the first ever by SC.
The case: pop diva Larisa Dolina sold her fancy Moscow apartment for ~$1.4mil... and sent the money to phone scammers
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The case: pop diva Larisa Dolina sold her fancy Moscow apartment for ~$1.4mil... and sent the money to phone scammers
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December 16, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Russia’s Supreme Court went live for a hearing, a rarity. In a country where court hearings haven’t been broadcast in ages, this is the first ever by SC.
The case: pop diva Larisa Dolina sold her fancy Moscow apartment for ~$1.4mil... and sent the money to phone scammers
1/4
The case: pop diva Larisa Dolina sold her fancy Moscow apartment for ~$1.4mil... and sent the money to phone scammers
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Valentina Zayarnaya sheltered a “homeless” man who said he lost his home in Mariupol.
He was a Ukrainian officer who evaded capture in Azovstal, living under an alias.
He’s now in Ukraine after a swap; she’s been sentenced to 12 years
en.zona.media/article/2025...
He was a Ukrainian officer who evaded capture in Azovstal, living under an alias.
He’s now in Ukraine after a swap; she’s been sentenced to 12 years
en.zona.media/article/2025...
“It’s godless”. Retired teacher from occupied Ukraine jailed for 12 years over alleged plot after taking in “homeless” man later identified as Ukrainian officer
The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 65-year-old Valentina Zayarnaya, a retired English language teacher from Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, to 12 yea...
en.zona.media
December 16, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Valentina Zayarnaya sheltered a “homeless” man who said he lost his home in Mariupol.
He was a Ukrainian officer who evaded capture in Azovstal, living under an alias.
He’s now in Ukraine after a swap; she’s been sentenced to 12 years
en.zona.media/article/2025...
He was a Ukrainian officer who evaded capture in Azovstal, living under an alias.
He’s now in Ukraine after a swap; she’s been sentenced to 12 years
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Reposted by Mediazona English
Hello, this is Sergey Smirnov, Mediazona’s Editor-in-Chief. I have good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad.
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
Support Mediazona. Your Donation Keeps Us Going
donate.zona.media
December 15, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Hello, this is Sergey Smirnov, Mediazona’s Editor-in-Chief. I have good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad.
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
Reposted by Mediazona English
From the 153,000 confirmed war dead to the persecution of anti-war dissenters, we document what the Russian authorities try to hide.
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Mediazona is still standing. Help us keep reporting on Russia when it matters most
Mediazona is no stranger to working through crises, but 2025 brought us to the very brink of survival. To save the newsroom, we were forced to cut costs drastically. We scaled back...
en.zona.media
December 15, 2025 at 5:23 PM
From the 153,000 confirmed war dead to the persecution of anti-war dissenters, we document what the Russian authorities try to hide.
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
From the 153,000 confirmed war dead to the persecution of anti-war dissenters, we document what the Russian authorities try to hide.
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Mediazona is still standing. Help us keep reporting on Russia when it matters most
Mediazona is no stranger to working through crises, but 2025 brought us to the very brink of survival. To save the newsroom, we were forced to cut costs drastically. We scaled back...
en.zona.media
December 15, 2025 at 5:23 PM
From the 153,000 confirmed war dead to the persecution of anti-war dissenters, we document what the Russian authorities try to hide.
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
We refused to be silenced, but we need your help to keep going. Please support Mediazona with a donation today
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Hello, this is Sergey Smirnov, Mediazona’s Editor-in-Chief. I have good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad.
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
Support Mediazona. Your Donation Keeps Us Going
donate.zona.media
December 15, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Hello, this is Sergey Smirnov, Mediazona’s Editor-in-Chief. I have good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad.
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
We are still teetering on the edge of survival. Last year, we said we needed 5,000 recurring donors just to continue our work. As I write this, we have exactly 5,013.
1/5
Reposted by Mediazona English
Russia is moving to legalise civil erasure of its political exiles. A new bill creates a “registry of evaders” that strips citizens abroad of connections to home: banning them from selling property, accessing banking, or even registering marriages
en.zona.media/article/2025...
en.zona.media/article/2025...
Capital controls. Deputies introduce law stripping outspoken Russians in exile of access to banking and property deals, creating a registry of “evaders”
The State Duma Commission on Foreign Interference has finalised a package of bills that would impose a regime of “temporary restrictive measures” on Russian citizens living abroad ...
en.zona.media
December 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Russia is moving to legalise civil erasure of its political exiles. A new bill creates a “registry of evaders” that strips citizens abroad of connections to home: banning them from selling property, accessing banking, or even registering marriages
en.zona.media/article/2025...
en.zona.media/article/2025...