In Ulan-Ude, Maria Vyushkova was sentenced in absentia to 6 years in a penal colony

According to Maksim Barlukov, the case was prompted by Vyushkova’s claim that during the events in the Ukrainian city of Bucha in 2022, where many civilians died during the Russian occupation, paratroopers from Pskov were present there, not servicemen from Buryatia. He wrote that the “defense of the honor of Buryat warriors” ended in criminal prosecution and a sentence of six years in prison.

Vyushkova did not comment on the sentence. Barlukov said that his daughter lives abroad and is a U.S. citizen, so he described the Russian prosecution over public statements as “symbolic and of no practical significance”.

Maria Vyushkova was a co-founder of the Free Buryatia foundation, which in Russia was recognized as an undesirable, terrorist, and extremist organization. In April 2026, she was added to the register of “foreign agents”, and in July the Russian Interior Ministry put her on the wanted list. This is reported by Radio Svoboda.

Sources

• Radio Svoboda