Russian cuisine historian sentenced to six years for anti-war Telegram post
Pavel Syutkin, a 61-year-old historian of Russian food, received a six-year prison term from a Moscow court for allegedly spreading false information about the army.
A Moscow court sentenced Pavel Syutkin, a noted writer and historian of Russian cuisine, to six years in prison on accusations of spreading false information about the army. The Zyuzinsky District Court held the trial behind closed doors, while prosecutors had sought an eight-year term. The charges stem from an April 19, 2022 Telegram post in which Syutkin compared the war in Ukraine to Hitler’s aggression and cited the massacre of civilians in Bucha.
He was arrested in October 2025 and has maintained his innocence, calling the case overtly political. Syutkin and his wife Olga Syutkina have published several works on the history of Russian and Soviet gastronomy and were regular guests on cooking programs before his detention. He wrote from prison that many Russians share his anti-war stance.
Why it matters
The case highlights Russia's crackdown on dissent and the use of fake-news laws to imprison critics.
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