Russia's prominent anti-war politician Lev Shlosberg has been sentenced to 11 years and one month in a penal colony for "discrediting" the country's armed forces and "spreading false information" about them.
Shlosberg, 63, is deputy head of the liberal Yabloko party. A court in the city of Pskov delivered the verdict. He condemned it, saying its only task was to "punish a person for his political, public and civil position".
Yabloko said it would appeal the decision. The ruling came just minutes before Russia's Supreme Court rejected the party's appeal against a ban on it taking part in September's parliamentary elections. Yabloko was the only registered party to oppose Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in 2022.
The prosecution had demanded 12 years and one month in jail. The criminal charges were brought following Shlosberg's comments published on social media.
In his closing speech, Shlosberg rejected all the charges, describing the trial as "an imitation of an investigation" in order to "achieve an obviously illegal goal", according to a transcript published by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
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August 17, 2026
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