Russian politician Maxim Kruglov, deputy leader of the liberal Yabloko party in Russia, was sentenced on Wednesday – less than three months before the parliamentary elections – to seven years in prison on the grounds that he spreads false information about the Russian army, reports Reuters agency, quoted by Agerpres.
Kruglov, a former deputy in the Moscow legislature, was arrested in October last year for two messages on Telegram from 2022, the year in which Russia invaded Ukraine.
He stated at the beginning of the trial that he considers himself innocent and believes that the war in Ukraine is a tragedy that must end as soon as possible.
One of the two incriminated messages mentioned UN data on the number of deaths in the conflict, while the other referred to the events in Bucea, the city north of Kiev where – according to accusations made by Ukrainians and Westerners – Russian forces massacred civilians in March 2022. Moscow maintains that the crimes were staged to discredit the Russian army.
Yabloko, one of the most important liberal groups in the early years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, currently holds only a few seats in regional parliaments in Russia and no longer has any deputies in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Federation’s legislature.