{
  "id": 15939692,
  "title": "BBC Russian reveals that journalist Darya Shipacheva raised 1.5 million rubles for Ukraine’s military before receiving a 12-year treason sentence",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/bbc-russian-reveals-that-journalist-darya-shipacheva-raised-1-5",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-21T18:53:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Meduza (English)",
    "slug": "meduza-english",
    "url": "https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/10/21/bbc-russian-reveals-that-journalist-darya-shipacheva-raised-1-5-million-rubles-for-ukraine-s-military-before-receiving-a-12-year-treason-sentence"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On July 29, 2026, Darya Shipacheva, a 35-year-old medical journalist, was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for treason in Moscow City Court. The case drew significant attention as her conviction stemmed from raising funds for Ukraine's military. She transferred over 1.5 million rubles to Ukrainian blogger Vasilisa Levchenko, whom she had met through Levchenko's Sberbank account. Levchenko, a Russian-language psychology blogger with 60,000 Instagram followers, began fundraising for Ukraine after the war started. Russian propagandists became aware of the fundraising, leading Sberbank and Rosfinmonitoring to block Levchenko's card and add her to a list of terrorists and extremists. Shipacheva, who had been living in Russia, chose to stay despite security services' interest in her. Before her arrest, a stranger warned her that people would \"soon come\" for her. She wrote in letters to BBC journalists that her decision to raise funds was driven by concern for her family, as supporting one homeland meant betraying the other. Despite pleading guilty, she was warned she would face 18 years in prison if she admitted the truth. Shipacheva's actions may have also led to another conviction, where IT consultant Nina Slobodchikova was sentenced to 12 years for treason over a smaller transfer.",
  "summary": "The case of medical journalist Darya Shipacheva, sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for treason in July 2026, drew widespread attention. A photograph of her in handcuffs in the courtroom spread across social media. Her trial was held behind closed doors, and almost nothing was known about the substance of the charges. BBC Russian has learned exactly what led to her conviction. Meduza…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Economic Times",
        "title": "Ukraine's Russian missile alert system resumes",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/ukraines-russian-missile-alert-system-resumes",
        "published": "2026-10-21T02:00:06.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Voice of Ukraine",
        "title": "Kushner repeats Trump’s demand for Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/kushner-repeats-trumps-demand-for-ukraine-to-stop-striking-russian",
        "published": "2026-10-21T06:44:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Euromaidan Press",
        "title": "Ukraine’s interceptor crews destroyed thousands of Russian aerial targets during Vivaldi. Jet-powered Shaheds remain a challenge",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/ukraines-interceptor-crews-destroyed-thousands-of-russian-aerial",
        "published": "2026-10-21T14:27:34.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Meduza (English)",
        "title": "The Kremlin wants Russian media to call attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ‘Putin strikes.’ The inspiration? Stalin.",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/the-kremlin-wants-russian-media-to-call-attacks-on-ukraines-energy",
        "published": "2026-10-21T15:25:24.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}