Artist given 17-year sentence for tearing down military recruitment flyers in Russia’s Far East

A 54-year-old artist from Khabarovsk, in Russia’s Far East, has been sentenced to 17 years in a penal colony for tearing down Russian Army recruitment flyers at the behest of “Ukrainian intelligence”, the Khabarovsk region’s Prosecutor’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Artist and fashion designer Yelena Karaniku was convicted of treason and “participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation” after a court found her guilty of tearing down at least 14 military recruitment flyers. As well as her long custodial sentence, Karaniku was ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 rubles (€2,166).

Karaniku, who was detained by the authorities in Khabarovsk in January, was originally found guilty and sentenced by a military court on 19 February. Prosecutors alleged that Karaniku had shared photographs of several of the flyers, as well as information she had found online about a dead Russian soldier, with a Ukrainian intelligence officer “in exchange for travel abroad”.

According to information provided by If There Was No War, an independent database of political prisoners in Russia, the case against Karaniku stemmed from Telegram correspondence she entered into with the Freedom of Russia Legion, a Ukraine-based paramilitary group composed of Russian citizens. Karaniku was initially arrested on suspicion of “collaborating with a foreign government”, before terrorism and treason charges were added to her docket.

Born in Khabarovsk, Karaniku had lived in Greece since 2000 before returning to Russia to visit relatives in 2020. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 she had wanted to leave the country, but was unable to do so.

The Freedom of Russia Legion was declared a terrorist organisation by Russia’s Supreme Court in March 2023, meaning that Russian citizens who join or collaborate with the group can face up to 20 years in jail.

In recent years, Moscow has used an increasingly broad definition of terrorism to arrest and detain large numbers of political prisoners, including teenager Arseny Turbin, who was found guilty of applying to join the Freedom of Russia Legion when he was just 15.