Russian prosecutors have requested a sentence of 12 years and one month in a penal colony for Lev Shlosberg, a senior figure in the opposition Yabloko party, on charges of discrediting the armed forces and spreading false information about the military. Prosecutor Anna Goryacheva made the request on Thursday before the Pskov City Court, where judge Victoria Malyamova has been hearing the case since late June. A verdict is expected Monday.
The charges stem from Shlosberg's participation in a debate on the war in Ukraine and his sharing of a Daily Mirror front page depicting President Vladimir Putin alongside a blood-covered woman. He previously received a sentence of 420 hours of compulsory labour over foreign-agent labelling violations. Shlosberg has been held in pretrial detention since late 2025.
The prosecution comes shortly after the Supreme Court barred Yabloko from September parliamentary elections. The party has faced mounting pressure, with dozens of searches and discreditation charges filed against its members since the start of the war.