A Russian court on Monday found a well-known opposition figure guilty over his criticism of the war in Ukraine, handing him an 11-year-and-one-month prison sentence as authorities intensify pressure on dissenters ahead of next month’s parliamentary election.
The conviction of Lev Shlosberg, a senior politician with the Yabloko party, underscored the Kremlin’s continuing campaign to silence anti-war voices since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Yabloko remains the only officially registered political party in Russia that openly opposes the conflict.
Shlosberg, 63, serves as Yabloko’s deputy chairman and previously represented the Pskov region in its legislature from 2016 to 2021. His trial was held in Pskov, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of Moscow, where prosecutors accused him of “discrediting” the Russian armed forces and spreading “false information” about the military.
The case was built around comments Shlosberg made during a debate calling for an end to the war, as well as a post on his Telegram channel showing a British tabloid front page. The image placed a bloodied woman beside Russian President Vladimir Putin under the headline: “Her blood … his hands.” Shlosberg has denied wrongdoing and dismissed the allegations as baseless.
The proceedings marked Shlosberg’s second trial in two years. He has also been branded a “foreign agent,” a designation widely seen in Russia as stigmatizing and one that subjects individuals to heightened state monitoring. He was separately convicted of breaching rules tied to that status.
In December 2025, Shlosberg was ordered into pre-trial detention on the latest charges and has remained in custody since then.
Addressing the court in his final statement Friday, Shlosberg said Russia had spent three decades moving “from hopes for freedom to the almost complete destruction of human and civil rights and freedoms.”
He added that the war in Ukraine had “changed the lives of every Russian citizen without exception,” warning that when the full scale of the deaths is eventually revealed, “the entire country will shudder.”
Following the verdict, the Yabloko party said Shlosberg received the “brutal sentence” for “love of the Motherland and calls for a ceasefire.” In a statement on Telegram, the party said Shlosberg will appeal the verdict.
Amnesty International denounced the verdict against Shlosberg.
“His arbitrary prosecution and sentencing are blatant reprisals for exercising his right to freedom of expression to call for peace,” said Marie Struthers, the group’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director.
“The Russian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Lev Shlosberg and quash his conviction,” her statement added. “They must repeal legislation criminalizing peaceful anti-war expression, end the persecution of Yabloko members and supporters, and respect the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and political participation for all Russians.”
