Overview

• Cheremushkinsky Court in Moscow, presided over by Judge Anastasia Baranova, issued the in‑absentia verdict for spreading “fakes about the army” and evading foreign‑agent obligations.
• The sentence orders seven years in a general‑regime colony and prohibits Bykov from administering online pages for four years.
• Prosecutors had requested seven years plus a 300,000‑ruble fine and a five‑year online ban, while the defense sought acquittal.
• Authorities had repeatedly fined Bykov for failing to apply required “foreign agent” labels to online posts, a pattern that preceded the criminal case.
• Bykov remains under arrest in absentia and on an international wanted list, has been designated a foreign agent since July 2022, and was added to Rosfinmonitoring’s extremist/terrorist registry in September 2025.