Russian former news anchor sentenced in absentia to 8 years for Freedom of Russia Legion interview — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Kurbangaleyeva, who resigned from her role in protest over the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and went into exile, was convicted of spreading 'false information' about the Russian military and 'justifying terrorism'.
The second defendant in the case, Alexey Baranovsky, who fought for Ukraine as part of the Freedom of Russia Legion, which fights alongside the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the Russian military, was also sentenced in absentia to six years in a penal colony.
The prosecution said that Kurbangaleyeva had 'consciously used her reputation and media resources as a former presenter on a national TV channel' to publish an interview with Baranovsky on her YouTube channel in May 2024, which included 'assertions of … heroism' regarding the legion's activities. The prosecution also considered posts on her Telegram channel to be 'false information' about the army.
Kurbangaleyeva hosted the Vesti news programme on Russian state TV channel Rossiya-1 until 2014, and after going into exile she hosted the news on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty-affiliated TV channel Current Time from 2018 to 2021. She now lives in Prague and runs her own YouTube channel.
Reacting to her sentence on her Telegram channel, Kurbangaleyeva wrote: 'I've decided to recover from the blow with a glass of rosé in a café in the town of Châteaufort near Paris. I have to think about how to live with all this…'
A Moscow court first issued a warrant for Kurbangaleyeva's arrest in absentia in June 2024, when she was also added to the Russian government's list of 'foreign agents' and 'extremists and terrorists'.
In February, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office lodged a formal request with Czechia for the extradition of Kurbangaleyeva, which was turned down. This was the first known instance of Russia submitting an extradition request to an EU country for a Russian citizen facing charges of justifying terrorism or spreading false information.
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Novaya Gazeta Europe
21 hours ago
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
In the Army now. After moving his family from Texas to Russia in search of ‘traditional values', Derek Huffman now finds himself at war — Novaya Gazeta Europe
In March, 46-year-old Derek Huffman and his family left their home in Texas and moved to Russia, in search of 'traditional values' they felt were lacking in the US. Initially, they were overwhelmingly positive about their new life in videos they posted to their YouTube channel, but that all changed in late May, when the Huffmans became embroiled in a war they had only seen on TV. The last time Derek Huffman posted a video of himself, he addressed his family from a Russian military training camp: 'You can see my face, see I'm doing well, probably see I've lost a few pounds … I miss you all more than you can imagine and I can't wait to see you. Hopefully I get a vacation at some point and I get to come home and spend a couple of weeks with you.' Big Water is the first of multiple planned communities in rural Russia for foreigners fleeing the 'woke mind virus'. Earlier this year, the Huffman family — Derek, DeAnna, and their three daughters — settled in Big Water, a remote, purpose-built village near the Moscow region town of Istra that's about an hour's journey from the Russian capital. The so-called American Village project was launched two years ago by the American-born pro-Kremlin propagandist Tim Kirby for Americans keen to live with 'like-minded individuals', and Big Water is the first of multiple planned communities in rural Russia for foreigners fleeing the 'woke mind virus'. Speaking about the project to state-affiliated tabloid Argumenty i Fakty, Kirby cited escaping 'LGBT propaganda' as the main reason Americans chose to move to Russia. 'In the West, it's everywhere: advertising, computer games, even in schools. Children are being forced to believe that this is the norm.' Last year, Vladimir Putin made the process of relocation to Russia a whole lot easier when he issued a decree granting foreigners who share 'traditional Russian spiritual and moral values' temporary residency permits, removing a legal requirement for them to have passed a Russian language test. The Huffman family's ID cards issued by the Russian Interior Ministry. Source: YouTube / Huffman Time The Huffmans are reportedly one of two families who call Big Water home. Their elderly neighbours, the Barretts, who left their relatives behind in the US to start a new life in Russia, are reportedly finding it challenging to form connections with Russians due to the language barrier. The houses in Big Water are small, white modular structures — humble lodgings given that the Americans sold almost all their assets to buy them. Despite having three children, the Huffmans now live in a two-bedroom house, and much of the surrounding area still looks like a construction site. 'They want us to be fat and dumb' Back in the US, Derek Huffman had been outraged by what he saw as 'the LGBT indoctrination of kids', where, in his words, even 'cartoons are about sex and gender'. His concern extended to other aspects of life in the US: 'The food in America is so unhealthy. They want us to be fat and dumb, controllable,' resolving to create a better life for his daughters. The family's first move was from Arizona to Texas, where they hoped to find a more conservative environment. But they were disappointed by the 'propaganda' they felt had infiltrated the Texas school system. After that, the couple began homeschooling their daughters, but found even that insufficient. It was at that point that Derek stumbled across an article about Kirby and his American Villages project. In videos made before his deployment, Derek frequently mused on the 'decline of the West', fretted about what he said were 'pornographic books' in US libraries, and bemoaned the indoctrination of children in schools. 'Russia is a different matter,' he says in one. In another he says, 'I'm just thankful we were able to find this and get an opportunity to raise our children the way we want,' before calling Russia a 'great country' and Putin an 'amazing leader.' The Huffman daughters in Russia. Source: YouTube / Huffman Time The struggle is real On 26 May, DeAnna announced that her husband had enlisted to serve in the Russian army, and even recorded herself giving the news to her daughters: 'Daddy just sent me a picture. He has signed the contract. It's official. He signed his army contract.' The girls didn't react. In an effort to get fast-tracked Russian citizenship for himself and his family, Derek signed up to serve in the military, a quid pro quo used by many foreign citizens hoping to become naturalised in Russia. Speaking about how so many of the migrants who had come to the US had no respect for the local culture and didn't attempt to integrate, Derek said that he didn't want to be seen by Russians in the same light and that he was determined to earn 'the right to live in Russia'. In the video, he seems to be sold on the Kremlin's false narrative of the war: 'I know enough to know that Russia is just in their cause and they are doing the right thing. And this Nazi regime and Ukraine needs to be stopped.' DeAnna's tone changed noticeably in a new video she posted on 8 June, in which she admitted that Derek had found his basic military training to be tough. 'It's hard of course because it's the military in Russia, so it is definitely a struggle. He is eating every day but not a lot because between his stomach not feeling the best and the food being a little bit dry.' DeAnna added that many people had asked her why they couldn't afford a car. She explains that as a 'migrant worker' in Russia, Derek receives a far smaller salary than the one used to promote migration to the country from abroad. She goes on to say that the equipment the military issued to her husband was substandard — seemingly unaware that such public statements could lead to a criminal prosecution in Russia — but added that a 'gentleman who has been amazing' gave Derek boots, a bulletproof vest and a helmet. DeAnna Huffman at home in Istra. Source: YouTube / Huffman Time Thrown to the wolves In mid-June, DeAnna confessed to her followers that after three years in recovery from severe alcoholism, she had fallen off the wagon and started drinking again. Days after that, she again took to YouTube to say that she believed her husband had been duped. The family had expected him to be kept safe during his tour of duty, DeAnna said, adding that Derek had just been told that he would be deployed to the frontline. 'We thought because he had a welding certificate and really good background in construction and welding that he would be put in a spot that would be safe and or safer and utilise his experiences but unfortunately we're not sure that that's what is going to happen,' she said. DeAnna said Derek had even attempted to be given non-combat roles such as a military reporter or as part of a repair battalion, but neither option turned out to be possible. 'He feels like he's been thrown to the wolves right now, and he's kind of having to lean on faith, and that's what we're all kind of doing.' 'And the foreigners unit is still being taught in Russian and he doesn't understand Russian very well. So he's kind of struggling a bit with that, and not getting really any training,' DeAnna said. 'He feels like he's been thrown to the wolves right now, and he's kind of having to lean on faith, and that's what we're all kind of doing. So we are gathering together and asking everybody to just pray that something can be done. We are petitioning some public figures to hopefully help.' In a now-deleted video that remains available on Reddit, DeAnna said that above all else Derek now needs money, as he's been asked to help 'pay for supplies,' for his unit, and as his military salary had not yet been paid out, DeAnna says that she has been unable to send him money herself. DeAnna declined to respond to Novaya Gazeta Europe's question about Derek's current whereabouts. For about a month, DeAnna's videos barely mentioned Derek, and focused on her daughters instead, who seem to spend all their time at home with her. Russian state-run media, which initially did numerous segments on the family's relocation from the US, also appears to have lost interest in the story. On 26 July, DeAnna posted an audio recording of her speaking to her husband by phone, set to a montage of the family photographs taken in happier times. 'I have to go soon. I have a lot of work to do, but I wanted some parting words,' Derek says in the recording. 'For all the people saying I'm a Christian, yet I joined an army so I could kill Ukrainians, I don't relish the idea of taking life. You know, but I'm doing what I think is right… and of course I'm alive and well.'
Balkan Insight
5 days ago
- Balkan Insight
Will Russia attack beyond Ukraine?
July 24, 2025 - Valerii Pekar - Articles and Commentary Damaged buildings after Russian shelling and rocket attacks in Bakhmut. Photo: Dmytro Larin / Shutterstock The answer to the question posed in the title of this article depends on how you assess the current international situation. Do you consider Russian aggression in Ukraine a local war or the first act of a global war? Do you have full confidence that the United States will immediately come to the rescue? Do you consider NATO's level of deterrence against Russia to be sufficient? Are you sure you understand Russia's goals and strategies? Are there vulnerabilities in the current system that invite an aggressor? Lately, we have been hearing that Russia will be ready to attack Europe around 2030, and by then the continent needs to be fully prepared and rearmed. But is Russia obliged to wait for such a moment of European readiness? After all, it is appropriate to strike at the moment of least readiness. Why not now? To understand this, we need to answer three questions: What is Russia's strategic goal? How has war changed? And how can Russia use the new nature of the war to achieve its goal? As I wrote in a previous article, in the new world of the 'right of force', American, Russian and Chinese interests coincide. They would all like to see Europe divided and weak, incapable of making strong joint decisions. They want a Europe that is not an independent centre of power but only a set of markets in which they can trade profitably. This leads to steps that can even be seen as a certain American-Russian rapprochement. Thus, the Russian strategic goal is not to seize a part of European territory as was expected during the Cold War. It would be enough now to sow panic and chaos; create a humanitarian crisis; generate refugee flows; and collapse and overthrow governments. This could create a domino effect that could bring radical Eurosceptics to power, destroy European unity and (last but not least) cut support to Ukraine. To understand how this could happen, we need to look at the face of modern war. The new face(s) of war The nature of modern warfare has changed radically over the past three years. While the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 looked like the Second World War, radical innovations since then (some of the most important were mentioned here) have changed the battlefield every few months. This has influenced not only tactics but also strategies. And generals (in a phrase attributed to Churchill) are always preparing for the last war. One of the typical delusions is that the war in Ukraine is a 'poor country's war' that is forced to use a large army, while NATO can wage a 'rich country's war' with a small professional army and high-precision weapons. This concept from the days of Operation Desert Storm is outdated. As one of the leading Ukrainian military experts, Taras Chmut, says, 'You don't need to have the best equipment. You need to have sufficient equipment in enough quantities.' At the same time, war is not only high-tech, but also multi-domain. More than ever before, it includes other types of confrontation, in addition to kinetic engagement. It now covers the economic, humanitarian, diplomatic, political, demographic, cyber, information, psychological and cognitive (semantic) spheres alongside other domains. The third important feature of war is the significant expansion of the amplitude of operations. In addition to clearly hostile actions, modern war includes (and Russian military doctrine emphasizes) so-called liminal operations. These involve activities that are not obviously (at least initially) hostile until they achieve their goals, or those that, in the opinion of the other side, do not cross the threshold of reaction. Examples include the appearance of militants in eastern Ukraine in the spring of 2014 who initially seemed unserious. Following this, recently we have seen the repeated infringement of the Polish border by missiles and drones (seemingly by accident); the inexplicable death of American soldiers in Lithuania; the recent fires involving military equipment in Germany and Belgium; a fire affecting telecommunications networks in Poland; and the dangerous use of electronic warfare in the Baltics. Finally, the fourth important feature of war is that it is taking place for the first time in the postmodern world, which affects all other dimensions. I will only list the most important theses here: The emergence of cognitive (semantic) warfare to the fore, with the main battlefield becoming consciousness itself and what people think. A full-fledged reflection of war in the media and social networks in real time, which completely changes the perception of war within societies. The active use of fakes aimed at the creation of an alternative reality for the opponent and third parties: it does not matter what has happened, what is important is what is said about events. Post-heroic societies that do not approve of mass mobilization, despite the fact that war still requires huge armies. From the point of view of European security, the question arises whether the continent's countries are ready for such a war — high-tech, multi-domain, liminal, postmodern. This means that there must be readiness of not only armies, but societies. Russian strike Most likely, we should not expect a Russian strike as a ground operation, featuring powerful tanks and motorized columns aimed at Baltic countries or the Polish-Lithuanian Suwałki corridor. Instead of this, just imagine an attack on Poland that combines: massive missile and drone attacks on energy, infrastructure and logistics facilities (by the way, drones can be marked as Ukrainian); cyber-attacks on government and infrastructure facilities; a navigation collapse due to the large-scale use of electronic warfare; sabotage and terrorist groups creating sudden 'ecological' and man-made disasters; the destabilization of society (already heated) through social networks; the use of a 'fifth column' and 'useful idiots'; crowds of thousands of Middle Eastern refugees released across the Belarusian border. I am not saying that everything will necessarily be like this. I just want to emphasize that the war could be completely different from the one Europe is preparing for. And such a war requires significantly fewer resources than a Second World War-style one, resources which are available in Russia today. In such a situation, the key issue is not the quantity and quality of weapons, but the readiness of the political and military leadership to react quickly. It is also important to assess the readiness of society to take balanced, mature and responsible actions. Dear reader, ask yourself: what would the political leadership of your country do in such a case? Will governments be at a loss, not knowing how to respond? And what would you and your family do personally? Conclusion The increasingly frequent statements by Russian representatives that Russia is not going to attack Europe sounds like a wake-up call for European politicians. Russia will neither wait for European readiness nor attack where it has long been expected. It will also not use the strategic approaches of the Second World War. This raises a number of questions that go beyond the military dimension. Relevant issues now include the unity and cohesion of societies; control of the domestic information space; the ability of NGOs to support governments and societies in moments of extraordinary challenges; and the preparedness of political leaders to make decisions in a pre-threshold liminal war. Learning the lessons of Ukraine, for which Ukrainians paid with their own blood, is recommended here. Purchasing tanks and armoured vehicles is not enough to oppose a Russian strike. They will not even leave the hangars. Superbly trained and brave soldiers will have no targets to acquire with this equipment. There will be no more wars like February 2022. Europe has all the necessary resources to defend itself. The problem is that governments and societies do not see that war is already on their doorstep. They do not understand that Russia should not be deterred or stopped but defeated. Some will say I am causing panic. I already heard this in early February 2022. Valerii Pekar is a chairman of the board of the Decolonization NGO, the author of four books, an adjunct professor at the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School and Business School of the Ukrainian Catholic University, and a former member of the National Reform Council. New Eastern Europe is a reader supported publication. Please support us and help us reach our goal of $10,000! We are nearly there. Donate by clicking on the button below. geopolitics, Russian invasion of Ukraine
Novaya Gazeta Europe
6 days ago
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian Supreme Court bans ‘international Satanist movement' — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian soldiers attend a service at Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces outside Moscow, on 23 June 2020. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY A Russian Supreme Court judge has designated 'Satanism' and the 'International Satanist movement' as 'extremist', and legally banned their operations in Russia, independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Wednesday. The decision means that, among other things, 'the general principles of Satanism' and the performance of 'occult rituals' will now be outlawed in Russia, according to the Prosecutor General's office, which hailed the designation as a triumph for 'legal forces' in the 'eternal struggle between good and evil'. Presiding judge Oleg Nefedov, who previously applied the same designation to the non-existent 'international LGBT movement' in November 2023 and oversaw the April decision to decriminalise the Taliban, conducted the hearing in a closed-door session, with no media or other officials permitted to attend. The designation follows over a year of discussions by top officials and prominent pro-Kremlin voices regarding the fight against Satanism in Russia, which began with a special State Duma session in July 2024, featuring deputies, priests, and several state media propagandists. During the initial discussion, participants broadly classified a variety of groups, including LGBT individuals, 'childfree' advocates, women's abortion rights proponents, Ukraine's Azov battalion members, furry and therian subcultures as 'Satanist' or destructive influences in society. In January, Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, renewed discussion of the topic, demanding that Satanism be legally banned in Russia, and endorsed a proposed law banning the advertisement of 'occult magic services', such as astrology or tarot card readings. 'It is unacceptable that various Satanic sects forming part of the international Satanist movement are still freely conducting their rituals in our country, recruiting young people, and openly registering their groups and communities on social media,' Patriarch Kirill said at the time, adding that Russian soldiers in Ukraine were 'ready to give their lives for values that are clearly trampled upon by Satanists'. Though the legislation endorsed by Kirill was rejected on 11 July by the government of Prime Minister Mikhail Mushustin on the grounds that its definitions were overly nebulous, in early July the Prosecutor General's Office and Justice Ministry jointly filed a lawsuit with the Russian Supreme Court requesting that the 'international Satanist movement' be recognised as extremist. In November 2023, Putin pardoned a member of a Satanist gang that killed four teenagers who was serving a 20-year prison sentence in recognition of his military service in Ukraine.
