Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
Russia’s crackdown on dissent has been increasing for years, notably with the 2021 arrest of opposition chief Alexei Navalny and lots of of his supporters, however the variety of political instances is now snowballing. College students, an essayist, a theater director and a former police officer, amongst many others, have been sentenced to years in jail.
Practically 20,000 individuals have been detained for opposing the struggle, the rights group OVD-Information stories; at the least 537 individuals, together with kids and pensioners, have been charged criminally. The bulk have fallen underneath the brand new legal guidelines — specifically underneath a provision that criminalizes the distribution of “false info” concerning the military.
“What we are actually seeing is totally unprecedented,” mentioned Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesperson for OVD-Information. “We have now by no means seen such numbers in Russia.”
There’s additionally been an uptick in treason instances. Traditionally, such instances have usually concerned navy figures or scientists who have been investigated over the course of years, and saved high secret. However in latest months, odd residents have been charged, many in connection to Ukraine.
“It is crucial for the authorities to take care of the picture of a collective ‘enemy’ — the parts of that are oppositionists, Ukrainians, some ‘neo-Nazis,’ minorities and, after all, traitors to the motherland,” mentioned Dmitry Zair-Bek, head of the rights group First Division. Zair-Bek says the variety of treason instances has ballooned this yr. Thirty instances will be confirmed by way of open sources, he mentioned, however the quantity might be a lot greater.
The spike in repression and treason instances has been adopted by the arrest of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich in March on espionage expenses — the primary case of its variety for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Beneath are a few of Russia’s most distinctive wartime political prisoners and people dealing with the longest jail phrases. Theirs are a small fraction of the instances now being prosecuted.
Human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-British nationwide and contributor to The Washington Publish, was sentenced final month to 25 years for treason and different expenses. The costs have been primarily based on speeches he made overseas and public criticism of the struggle.
Kara-Murza has likened his prosecution to a Stalinist present trial. “I do know that the day will come when the darkness over our nation will likely be gone,” he mentioned at his sentencing. “After which our individuals will open their eyes and shudder on the sight of the horrific crimes dedicated of their names.”
Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, tried final yr on secret proof, was sentenced in September to 22 years for treason. A former reporter for the Russian newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, he’s believed to have been focused for revealing particulars of Russia’s sale of fighter jets to Egypt. His was the primary conviction of a journalist for treason in Russia since 2001.
In a latest letter from jail in Krasnodar, Safronov informed The Publish that no odd particular person needs to be made to endure what he’s endured. “In case you have this expertise,” he wrote, “you can’t escape from it.”
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced in December to 8½ years for social media posts denouncing atrocities dedicated by Russian troops in Bucha, Ukraine.
Yashin was one of many few vocal opponents of the invasion who determined to remain in Russia after the invasion. “Antiwar voices sound louder and extra convincing if the particular person stays,” he mentioned. At his sentencing, he mentioned he had no regrets: “It’s higher to spend 10 years behind bars as an trustworthy man than quietly burn with disgrace over the blood spilled by your authorities.”
Alexei Navalny, the opposition chief who survived a Novichok poisoning try in 2020, was sentenced initially the next yr to over two years in jail. With new expenses, he could possibly be sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Navalny continues to criticize Putin from behind bars for the struggle, corruption and abuses of energy. His supporters say they fear for his life: Since his detention, he has quickly misplaced weight, has been denied household visits, and has been positioned in solitary confinement for as much as 15 days at a time.
Sergei Vedel, a police officer of Ukrainian-Russian heritage, was sentenced final month to seven years for spreading “fakes” concerning the military. The cost was primarily based on his criticism of the struggle in personal conversations with mates on his tapped telephone.
A former driver who labored at Moscow’s police headquarters for practically 20 years, Vedel expressed his considerations to mates within the days after the invasion. “We expect we’re preventing fascism,” he informed one, “however there isn’t fascism there.”
Moscow metropolis councilman Alexei Gorinov was convicted final yr of discrediting the military. He had spoken in opposition to the struggle throughout a council assembly. Gorinov refused to plead responsible. He saved up the criticism throughout his trial. At his sentencing, he held an indication that learn “Do you continue to want this struggle?”
“I’m satisfied that this struggle is the quickest path to dehumanization, when the road between good and evil is blurred,” he mentioned.
Journalist Maria Ponomarenko was convicted by a courtroom in western Siberia of spreading “fakes” after she posted about Russia’s bombing of the Mariupol drama theater final yr, which killed a whole lot of civilians. The mom of two was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.
At her sentencing, she declared herself a patriotic pacifist. Below Russia’s structure, she mentioned, she’d performed nothing incorrect. “No totalitarian regime has ever been as sturdy as earlier than its collapse,” she mentioned.
5 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, Alexandra Skochilenko, an LGBTQ+ musician with no historical past of political activism, walked right into a grocery store in St. Petersburg and commenced sticking notes criticizing the struggle on high of worth tags.
“The Russian military bombed an artwork faculty in Mariupol the place about 400 individuals have been hiding from shelling,” learn one. “Weekly inflation reached a brand new excessive not seen since 1998 due to our navy actions in Ukraine. Cease the struggle,” learn one other. A fellow shopper reported Skochilenko to police, and her trial is ongoing. She could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist and essayist from St. Petersburg, was accused in November of spreading “fakes” concerning the Russian military in dozens of antiwar posts on social media. Bestuzhev, who reportedly has a number of continual diseases and has had a number of coronary heart assaults, could possibly be sentenced to 10 years.
Theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich was arrested Might 4 and put in pretrial detention along with her colleague Svetlana Petriichuk, a playwright, for allegedly “justifying terrorism.” The cost associated to their play “Finist: The Courageous Falcon,” about Russian ladies who joined the Islamic State, which was first carried out two years in the past and received a nationwide theater award final yr. An knowledgeable opinion reportedly discovered the play contained components of ISIS thought and “the ideology of radical feminism.”
Hers is the primary high-profile prison case referring to a play for the reason that Soviet period. The cost carries as much as seven years in jail. “Don’t make a Joan of Arc out of me!” she wrote to a buddy from detention. “I’m a woman, I wish to go residence, I would like prosecco and a giant fats steak.”
Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova contributed from Riga, Latvia.
