Wearing a red shirt and matching glasses, Yekaterina Barabash was photographed blowing kisses from behind a bulletproof glass as she appeared in a Moscow courtroom.
The well-known film critic had been placed under two months of house arrest for allegedly spreading “false information” about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Now, Russian authorities have issued a nationwide arrest warrant after discovering that the 63-year-old was not home during a routine check on April 13.
On April 21, Russia’s prison service reported that Barabash was absent during a scheduled visit, leading a Moscow court to change her sentence to pre-trial detention — meaning she now faces up to 10 years in prison.
Friends of Barabash contacted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) declined to comment, citing concerns for her safety.
Barabash has been a frequent guest on RFE/RL’s Russian-language programs, where she has openly criticized the Kremlin’s increasingly authoritarian grip on Russian society.
Vocal Critic of the War
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Barabash swiftly condemned it. “Russian forces have bombed the country, flattened entire cities,” she wrote in the early weeks of the war.
These remarks directly challenged the Kremlin’s official narrative, which banned the use of the term “war” and denied attacks on civilians, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
In response, the government passed strict new wartime censorship laws, making it a criminal offense to “discredit the military.” Since then, hundreds have been imprisoned, and many more silenced.
Barabash was arrested under this law in February 2025, accused of sharing false information on social media about Russian military operations.
During her court appearance, she remarked, “At least I’ll have two months of freedom,” hinting that she anticipated a prison sentence.
Describing her arrest, she recalled, “The doorbell rings and you expect someone nice. You open it, and it’s masked men.”
Cultural Outcry
Her case sparked widespread support from prominent Russian artists and intellectuals.
Author Anna Berseneva wrote that “millions of honest people think like Yekaterina Barabash.” Critic Andrei Plakhov called her “a principled and honest person – a serious risk factor in these times.”
Director Vitalii Mansky noted that many Kremlin critics have retreated into “internal emigration,” while Barabash displayed true integrity.
Earlier this month, she was officially designated a “foreign agent” by Russia’s Ministry of Justice — a label often used to suppress dissent.
Her case echoes that of Marina Ovsyannikova, another vocal critic who escaped Russia in 2022 while under house arrest.
