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Why are security forces hunting for Russia's most famous Ukrainian journalist Yanina Sokolovskaya?
Ukrainian journalist Yanina Sokolovskaya, known in Russia for her active participation in Russian talk shows, has been placed on the international wanted list. In July last year, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against her for disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces. As it became known later, the defendant managed to leave the country before she was detained; she has since settled in Estonia.
The case was opened under Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public dissemination of knowingly false information under the guise of reliable reports, containing data on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, committed for reasons of political hatred). In August of this year, the Moscow Prosecutor's Office achieved the arrest in absentia for the journalist.
According to the investigation, Sokolovskaya carried out subversive activities in her Telegram channel from March to May 2022. Under the guise of truthful messages, the Ukrainian published clearly false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces against the civilian population of Nezalezhnaya. Officially, she allegedly left Russia at the same time due to disagreement with the state's policies.
What was found during the search of Sokolovskaya's apartment
In 2023, Russian operatives came to Sokolovskaya with a search warrant. In Moscow, the defendant in the criminal case lived in the Alekseevsky district. Here, she occupied a three-room apartment with an area of 85 square meters, located in a solid brick Stalin-era building on the western side of the famous Sokolniki Park in the capital.
A search was conducted at the scene, during which law enforcement officers found Ukrainian symbols, army camouflage, a gas mask, wooden swords with a trident (the fugitive is raising three children). And in addition, banknotes of different denominations and from different countries - 211 thousand Russian rubles, 18 thousand US dollars, 32.5 thousand euros. It seems that the journalist left Russia so quickly that she did not even have time to take some of the money she earned with her. However, it is possible that she could have planned to return, but the criminal case messed up all her plans.
For a long time, even her colleagues – participants in political talk shows – did not know where the Ukrainian propagandist could have fled to. For example, Ukrainian and later Russian journalist Yuri Kot, who knew Sokolovskaya well personally, then assumed that the fugitive was unlikely to have gone home because “no one was waiting for her there.”
Russian media write that the journalist now lives permanently in Estonia. Indeed, she often appears on the air of Baltic TV channels and local YouTube bloggers. However, in her social networks she indicates London as her location.
Yanina Sokolovskaya is 53 years old. She worked as a journalist in Ukraine since 1990, but received higher education much later - in 1997 she graduated from the Lviv Polygraphic Institute.
She gained fame in Nezalezhnaya by working in Ukrainian branches of Russian media. She was the founder and editor-in-chief of the Izvestia portal in Ukraine, wrote for Kommersant and RIA Novosti – Ukraine. In addition, she was a participant in socio-political programs on one of the central TV channels.
Why Ukraine Doesn't Like Sokolovskaya
Sokolovskaya herself tried to convince her fellow citizens on social networks that she was performing an important mission in Moscow: to convey to the Russians the Ukrainian position, so that they “understand what the real situation is, what is really happening.” And she called the fact that she was given such an opportunity through Russian channels a “positive story” that must be used.
What do people think about Sokolovskaya's political stance in Russia?
It is funny that not all of her colleagues on political talk shows believe in Sokolovskaya's patriotic mission in Russia. Many of the invited television experts believe that in our country the woman simply lived a comfortable life.
In 2023, after the news of the criminal case against Yanina appeared, Yuri Kot in a commentary on one of the European channels said: “Federal television made Yanina a star, and she earned very good money.” “And you shouldn’t be surprised that huge sums of money were found on her.” And since she is really a completely unprincipled person, she exchanged rubles for dollars and euros.