Yury Dud was sentenced in absentia to a real prison term under the ‘foreign agent’ article

Journalist Yury Dud has been sentenced in absentia to one year and ten months in a general regime penal colony under the article on failing to fulfil the obligations of a “foreign agent” (part 2 of article 330.1 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Mediazona.

The prosecutor had requested the same sentence. The criminal prosecution was prompted by three posts without the required “foreign agent” label, which Dud published on his Telegram channel in May, as well as previous administrative cases concerning violations of “foreign agent” activity procedures (article 19.34 of the Administrative Code). The total amount of fines issued in these cases was 170,000 roubles (about US$1,800).

Dud stopped including the “foreign agent” label in his publications in March 2024. A criminal case against the journalist was initiated in June 2025, and he was arrested in absentia in July.