Russia sentences politician to prison after criticizing the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine 

A Russian opposition figure was sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison on Friday after criticizing the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine, amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent by Russian authorities. 

Ilya Yashin, an outspoken Kremlin critic, was charged with spreading false information about the military, a new offense that was added to Russia’s criminal law after the invasion of Ukraine began in February. The charges against Yashin stem from a YouTube Livestream video in which he talked about Ukrainians that were killed in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. 

“Expressing hatred of the political system of the Russian Federation and realizing that he is a public person … Yashin created a real threat to the formation of a negative attitude towards the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” read the verdict, which was delivered in Moscow’s Meshchansky district court.

Yashin, however, claims that the charges were politically motivated, adding that the case against him has been entirely fabricated and “has all the markings of illegal political persecution.”

“With that hysterical sentence, the authorities want to scare us all but it effectively shows their weakness,” Yashin said in a statement shared by his lawyers after the judge passed the sentence. “Only the weak want to shut everyone’s mouth and eradicate any dissent.”

Before his sentencing on Monday, Yashin urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “immediately stop this madness, recognize that the policy on Ukraine was wrong, pull back troops from its territory, and switch to a diplomatic settlement of the conflict.”

Putin responded to the sentencing by saying that he wouldn’t question the court’s verdict. He added that Yashin’s lawyers could appeal it. 

International human rights groups denounced the sentence claiming that Yashin’s trial was a political move and calling for his immediate release. 

Human Rights Watch said Yashin’s sentencing was part of “continued efforts to dismantle and decapitate Russia’s peaceful political opposition.”

“The verdict against Yashin is a travesty of justice and an act of cowardice, directed by a Kremlin that feels threatened by vocal and visible critics like him,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.