New Delhi, July 30 -- MOSCOW - Darya Shipacheva spent six years writing about medicine for Russians who wanted to understand their own bodies. Her work appeared in Forbes Russia, RBC, and Takie Dela, covering health literacy and the structural failings of the Russian healthcare system. On Tuesday, a Moscow court sentenced her to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony for treason.

She is 34 years old. She pleaded guilty. The trial lasted 90 minutes behind closed doors.

The charge rested on a wire transfer to a family member in Ukraine, according to T-Invariant, an independent outlet covering science and political repression in Russia that spoke to five people close to the case. The Moscow Times reported the verdict, citing the same ...