Political prisoner and amateur radio enthusiast Vladimir Rumyantsev is free. He served 2.5 years for spreading “fake news” about the Russian army on his pirate radio

In December 2022, Vladimir Rumyantsev, a stoker from Vologda, was sentenced to three years in a penal colony for “fake news” about the Russian military. The reason was several anti-war videos he posted on social media and a pirate radio station he set up to broadcast independent Russian voices. Today, he got out of prison.

Vladimir Rumyantsev, a stoker from the Northern Russian city of Vologda, had a passion for radio. With a transmitter he ordered from AliExpress, he started a pirate broadcast. Even before the invasion of Ukraine, he actively spoke out against the authorities, participating in rallies, including those in support of Alexei Navalny.

When Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine started, Rumyantsev took part in anti-war rallies in Vologda and was fined twice for “discrediting” the military. While previously broadcasting music, he switched to airing anti-war political programs and podcasts from independent media outlets.

In April 2022, FSB officers detected his radio signal, conducted a search at the elderly man’s apartment, seized all transmitters, interrogated him, and demanded that he cease his activities. Rumyantsev did not. After the interrogation, he posted a message on VKontakte imitating a “foreign agent” disclaimer, denouncing the invasion in Ukraine as a war crime and genocide.

Read more – Media Zone: https://en.zona.media/article/2025/02/21/radio