A Moscow court on Thursday upheld five-and-a-half-year prison sentences for four Russian journalists, including two former Deutsche Welle reporters who previously worked for the organization's Moscow bureau. 

Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin, along with Antonina Favorskaya and Artyom Kriger, were convicted in April on charges of participating in an "extremist organization" — a reference to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), an NGO founded by opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 

Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, died in February 2024 while imprisoned in an Arctic penal colony.

Russian authorities classified the FBK as an extremist organization in 2021, a designation that has since been used to prosecute journalists, activists and opposition figures associated with Navalny’s movement. 

Prosecutors said the group created materials for the FBK YouTube channel. All four journalists denied the charges, saying they did not work for the foundation but merely reported on its activities.  

Following Thursday’s judgment, the group is now expected to be transferred from pre-trial detention centers to penal colonies to serve their sentences.

Their conviction has sparked international criticism and raised concerns about press freedom in Russia. 

Defense lawyer denies charges 

Irina Biryukova, the lawyer representing Konstantin Gabov, told DW that the conviction was unfounded and that the journalists had committed no crimes.

"The case files presented in both the trial and appeals courts contain no evidence of any extremist activity," Biryukova said. "They were simply doing their jobs as reporters."

Biryukova confirmed plans to appeal the decision in higher Russian courts and, if necessary, bring the case before the UN Human Rights Committee. 

Journalists hope for prisoner swap 

Gabov and Karelin had both worked for DW prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and later reported for international news outlets including Reuters and the Associated Press. 

Favorskaya and Krieger were reporters with the independent Russian outlet SOTAVision. Though arrested at different times in 2024, all four were charged in the same case. They have remained in custody ever since. 

According to Biryukova, Gabov had hoped the appeals court might reduce his sentence.

"He also believed he might be included in a potential prisoner swap between Russia and the United States," she said. "He is asking people to continue speaking out on their behalf, as [their case] may be overlooked in future exchange negotiations without international attention."

International outcry 

Following the original conviction in April, Anitta Hipper, the European Commission's foreign affairs spokesperson, called for action saying, "Favorskaya, Gabov, Karelin, Kriger and all political prisoners must be released immediately and unconditionally."  

The human rights organization Memorial has recognized the four journalists as political prisoners, bringing the total number of such detainees in Russia to 742, according to the group’s estimates. The list includes journalists, activists, academics, and ordinary citizens. 

Reporters Without Borders has highlighted the ongoing pressure on Russian media, estimating in December 2023 that between 1,500 and 1,800 Russian journalists had fled the country since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's position in the organization's 2025 Press Freedom Index fell to a record low of 171 out of 180 countries.  

Russia banned DW's broadcasts and forced the closure of its Moscow office on February 4, 2022, weeks before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. DW’s website dw.com was blocked across Russia in all languages. DW's Russian service continues to operate from Riga, Latvia.   

Edited by: J. Wingard.