Deputy Head of Russian 'Yabloko' Sentenced to 11 Years in Penal Colony
Pskov City Court sentenced Deputy Chairman of the Russian 'Yabloko' party Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a general regime penal colony. The 63-year-old politician was found guilty of repeated 'discrediting' of the Russian army and spreading so-called 'fakes' about Russia's war against Ukraine.
The basis for the accusation of spreading 'fakes' was a repost made by Shlosberg in February 2022 on Telegram of a publication by 'Ekho Moskvy' (Echo of Moscow) featuring the cover of the British newspaper Daily Mirror. The image depicted a bleeding woman and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the caption: 'Her blood... His hands'. It later turned out that the publication itself did not exist at the time of the repost.
A second criminal case against the politician was initiated after his speech in a debate, where Shlosberg advocated for the quickest possible end to the war. He also criticized the leadership of the Pskov region.
Shlosberg himself did not plead guilty.
'Yabloko' party stated that they would seek to stop Shlosberg's persecution by all legal means. The party called the verdict a tragedy for the modern Russian judicial system and noted that the politician received 11 years in a penal colony for public statements in favor of a ceasefire, preserving human lives, and criticizing the authorities.
Shlosberg has been under persecution by Russian authorities for several years. Since June 2025, he had been under house arrest, and in December he was transferred to a pre-trial detention center. During the same period, Rosfinmonitoring included the politician in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.
Previously, Shlosberg had been fined several times under administrative articles for 'discrediting' the army. Additionally, in November, the court sentenced him to 420 hours of compulsory labor in a criminal case for non-compliance with the duties of a 'foreign agent'. He was assigned this status in 2023.
Shlosberg remained one of the few Russian opposition politicians who continued to live in Russia and openly speak out against the war.
In late June, another deputy chairman of 'Yabloko' — former Moscow City Duma deputy Maxim Kruglov — was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony also in a case concerning so-called 'military fakes'. The basis for this was his publications about the Bucha massacre and the deaths of civilians in Mariupol as a result of the Russian invasion.
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