A former flight attendant of Ural Airlines has been sentenced to seven years in prison in a case concerning “fake news.”

The Vidnoye City Court in Moscow Oblast has sentenced 23-year-old former flight attendant Varvara Volkova to seven years in a penal colony on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army motivated by political hatred (subparagraph “d,” part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the regional courts' joint press office.

Volkova has also been banned from administering websites for three years.

According to investigators, Volkova posted a message in a Telegram chat for residents of the village of Sapronovo about alleged crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. She is also accused of making a phone call to Russian tank operator Ruslan Grigoryev and insulting him because of his participation in the war. Grigoryev was killed at the front in March. In one of her anti-war posts, Volkova wrote that she would “invite Ukrainian soldiers for tea” if they reached Moscow Oblast.

Volkova has stated that her account was hacked.

Pro-war Telegram channels began drawing attention to the former flight attendant. At the beginning of 2025, she was subjected to administrative cases for “discrediting the army” (part 1, article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and “displaying banned symbols” (part 1, article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Later, Ural Airlines also chose not to renew her contract.

In July, the court sent Volkova to a pre-trial detention centre. On 23 November, she was sentenced.