A Moscow court on Wednesday sentenced Twitch streamer Anna Bazhutova to five and a half years in prison for livestreaming witness testimony about alleged Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
“It’s f***** up. It’s disgusting and vile,” the 30-year-old Bazhutova, speaking from the glass defendant’s box, said in reaction to the ruling against her.
The Ostankino District Court in northern Moscow found the streamer guilty of spreading “fake” information about the Russian army on her Twitch channel.
“This is a harsh sentence. We will appeal,” Bazhutova’s lawyer Andrei Nevrev said.
Kyiv accuses the Russian military of carrying out a massacre of civilians in Bucha during its retreat in spring 2022. Moscow rejects these allegations and claims the killings were staged by the West.
In June 2023, Bazhutova did a live broadcast that included witness statements from Bucha residents who directly accused the Russian military of carrying out a massacre. Pro-war Russian bloggers then complained about the streamer to law enforcement authorities.
Two months after the complaint, police searched Buzhutova’s home and confiscated her personal electronic devices. Her Twitch channel was later blocked.