Anti-war radio operator released from Russian prison

A Russian amateur radio operator who rebroadcast independent news about the war in Ukraine on a pirate radio station he set up has been released from prison after serving a 2.5-year sentence for spreading “false information” about the Russian army, independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Friday.

Vladimir Rumyantsev, 64, who started airing anti-war programmes from his high-rise apartment in the northwestern Russian city of Vologda after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, was sentenced to three years in a penal colony in December 2022.

At his trial, Rumyantsev told the court that he began transmitting news using a homemade FM station as he wanted to provide Russians with independent information so they could “evaluate the actions of the authorities”, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported at the time of his imprisonment.

In July 2022, Rumyantsev was arrested and held in pretrial detention for five months. Throughout the investigation and trial, Rumyantsev firmly maintained his beliefs and asserted that he did not view his actions as criminal.

In 2023, Rumyantsev was awarded the Boris Nemtsov Prize along with four other Russian political prisoners who were prosecuted after speaking out against the war.

Speaking to Mediazona upon his release from a penal colony in the Vologda region, Rumyantsev said that his time in prison had gone “smoothly”, thanking supporters for writing him letters and adding that his immediate plan was to look after his health.

“I was less worried when I was arrested than I am now. I felt like a soldier going over the trenches. But now, uncertainty lies ahead. I do not know yet how my life will develop,” Rumyantsev said.