Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against Meduza journalist and host of the podcast “What Happened” Vladislav Gorin. The case was launched under Part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers participation in the activities of an organization designated in Russia as “undesirable.”
According to investigators, the grounds for the prosecution were six audio recordings published in August, September, October, and November 2025. The committee claims that in those materials Gorin “distributed informational materials about political and social processes taking place in the Russian Federation.”
The Investigative Committee also says that, while outside Russia, the journalist “continued to participate” in the activities of an organization declared “undesirable.”
The report says the move toward criminal prosecution had begun earlier: the Moscow prosecutor’s office called for a criminal case against Gorin under this article in December 2025.
Before that, the journalist had already been held liable under a related administrative charge. A year earlier, Moscow’s Ostankino District Court fined him 10,000 rubles for participating in the activities of an “undesirable” organization.
The new criminal case therefore continues earlier claims by the Russian authorities against the journalist, tied to his work and the publication of audio materials that investigators interpreted as participation in the activities of a banned organization.