Ukraine sentences Medinsky, head of Russian institute in absentia to ten years in prison

Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi District Court has sentenced Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, and Anatoly Torkunov, rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations at the Russian Foreign Ministry, in absentia to ten years in prison with confiscation of property over an anti-Ukrainian textbook.

That is according to the Prosecutor General's Office, Ukrinform reports.

Medinsky and Torkunov served as editors of the Russian 11th-grade textbook "History. History of Russia. 1945 – Early 21st Century," published in Russia in 2023.

According to the investigation, the textbook became one of the tools of Russia's information policy in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Its content contains public calls to alter Ukraine's territorial boundaries and state border, justifies Russia's armed aggression and the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories, and promotes a distorted, ideologically biased view of recent historical events among students.

Russia has placed particular focus on children, one of the most vulnerable groups in the temporarily occupied territories.

Through educational materials, students are being indoctrinated with narratives about so-called "brotherly nations," the denial of Ukraine's sovereignty, "liberation" through the so-called "special military operation," and the Russian version of the war against Ukraine.

Since September 1, 2023, the textbook has been used in schools in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, as well as in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

It was also distributed throughout Russia.

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Prosecutors from the Prosecutor General's Office proved in court that Medinsky and Torkunov committed crimes under Part 2 of Article 110 of Ukraine's Criminal Code – encroachment on Ukraine's territorial integrity and inviolability – as well as Part 3 of Article 436-2 – justification and recognition as lawful of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine and glorification of its participants.

Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi District Court sentenced each of them to ten years in prison with confiscation of property.

In April 2026, 11 books were added to the list of publications whose content is aimed at eliminating Ukraine's independence, promoting violence, inciting ethnic, racial, or religious hatred, committing terrorist acts, and infringing on human rights and freedoms.

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