Anastasia Chumakova

Affiliated media: Astra , Editor-in-chief

Incident date: October 24, 2025

Attack type:

Pressure on a media worker via judicial and/or economic pressure on relatives and loved ones

Who attacked: Authorities

Location: Russia, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Ulyanovsk

Additional information:

In Ulyanovsk, officers from the Investigative Committee, the FSB, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted a search of the home of the 61-year-old mother of journalist and founder of the Telegram channel "Astra", Anastasia Chumakova, in connection with a criminal case concerning military “fakes” (part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). It is unclear which publication prompted the prosecution. Chumakova’s mother was questioned as a witness, her equipment was seized, and law enforcement officers reviewed her personal correspondence. In October 2024, Chumakova’s Telegram channel was declared a “foreign agent,” and she was later fined 35,000 rubles for failing to register herself as the head of a “foreign agent” media outlet.