A Russian court on Monday sentenced Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a penal colony, convicting the 63-year-old Yabloko deputy leader of discrediting the armed forces and spreading false information about the military. Judge Viktoria Malyamova handed down the sentence after prosecutors had sought 12 years and one month, following a trial at the Pskov City Court.
The charges stemmed partly from Shlosberg's sharing of a Daily Mirror front page on 25 February 2022 depicting the war in Ukraine. The rights group Memorial has classified Shlosberg as a political prisoner. He has been in custody since last year, initially under house arrest and later in pretrial detention.
Shlosberg plans to appeal the verdict. Yabloko party leader Nikolai Rybakov condemned the ruling as "a tragedy that illustrates the collapse of the current Russian judiciary". The sentencing follows the Supreme Court's recent decision to bar Yabloko from the upcoming parliamentary elections.