Affiliated media: Verstka, Online publication

Incident date: July 23, 2025

Attack type:

• prosecution for violation of the honour, dignity and business reputation; violation of privacy following civil lawsuit

Who attacked: Non-authorities

Source: Verstka

Location: Russia, Moscow, Moscow

Additional information:

Businessman Oleg Deripaska has filed a lawsuit against the media outlets Verstka and Important Stories (iStories) following their investigation into a network allegedly selling sex with minors, which claimed that Deripaska was among the clients. He is seeking for the report to be declared false and defamatory, and for it to be removed from the websites and Telegram channels of Verstka and Important Stories, from Important Stories’ YouTube channel, and from The Insider’s Telegram channel. Additionally, Deripaska has demanded that the authors publish retractions and that both the authors and Google (owner of YouTube) be fined 10,000 rubles per day for each day the court’s decision is not implemented.