Russia's prominent anti-war politician jailed for 11 years

What the report says

Lev Schlosberg, one of Russia’s best-known anti-war politicians, has been sentenced to 11 years and one month in a penal colony by a court in Pskov, north-western Russia, after being found guilty of actions described by prosecutors as “discrediting” the armed forces and spreading false information about them. Schlosberg, who is 63 and a deputy head of the liberal Yabloko party, rejected the case and said the verdict amounted to punishment for his political and civic stance.

According to the BBC report, the charges stemmed from comments he made on social media. Prosecutors had sought a slightly longer sentence of 12 years and one month. In court, Schlosberg called the proceedings an imitation of an investigation and repeated his call for a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war and for political dialogue. Yabloko said it would appeal.

The ruling came as Russia’s Supreme Court rejected Yabloko’s challenge to being barred from September’s parliamentary election. The BBC notes that Yabloko was the only registered party openly opposing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and that wartime censorship laws have sharply narrowed space for dissent since 2022. More broadly, the case underlines the pressure on opposition voices as Russia prepares for an election in which all other registered parties support the war.