Russian court jails anti-war Shlosberg for 11 years
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- A Russian court convicted Yabloko deputy chairman Lev Shlosberg on charges of 'discrediting' the Russian military and spreading 'false information' about it, sentencing him to 11 years and one month in prison.
- Yabloko, Russia's only official political party that openly opposes the war in Ukraine, called the sentence 'brutal' for 'love of the Motherland and calls for a ceasefire' and announced plans to appeal.
- The prosecution stemmed from Shlosberg's debate call to end the war and a Telegram post pairing a bloodied woman with Vladimir Putin under the British tabloid headline 'Her blood ... his hands.'
- Shlosberg, 63, had already been designated a Russian 'foreign agent' and convicted of violating foreign agent rules before being held in pre-trial custody since December 2025 on the new charges.
- Shlosberg's final court statement said Russia had traveled 'from hopes for freedom to the almost complete destruction of human and civil rights and freedoms' over 30 years and predicted the country 'will shudder' once the war's true death toll emerges.
- Amnesty International called the prosecution 'arbitrary,' demanded Shlosberg's immediate release, and urged Russia to repeal laws criminalizing peaceful anti-war speech.
- The trial was held in Pskov, about 600 km northwest of Moscow, ahead of next month's Russian parliamentary election.
Why it matters: With Shlosberg locked up for 11 years weeks before parliamentary elections, Russia's only officially registered anti-war party is without its deputy chairman as Yabloko pledges to appeal and Amnesty International calls the prosecution 'arbitrary' and demands his release.
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