Kyiv Sentences Russian Peace Delegation Chief Over Textbook

A Ukrainian court has sentenced Vladimir Medinsky, head of Russia’s delegation to peace talks, to 10 years in prison and ordered the confiscation of his property, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

Anatoly Torkunov received the same sentence. Both were found guilty of undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity and justifying Russian armed aggression.

The case relates to a Russian history textbook for 11th grade, History of Russia: 1945 to the Beginning of the 21st Century, edited and published by Medinsky and Torkunov in 2023. According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, the book served as a tool of Russian information policy in occupied territories.

Investigators said the publication contained calls to alter Ukraine’s borders, justified the occupation of Ukrainian territory and promoted an ideologically driven interpretation of the war. The prosecutor’s office added that the material specifically targeted children in occupied areas, promoting narratives of “brotherly nations” and denying Ukrainian statehood.

Ukrainian authorities said the textbook has been used since September 2023 in the occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson, as well as in Crimea. It has also been distributed within Russia.

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