Russian politician jailed for seven years over social media posts

Maxim Kruglov, the deputy leader of Russia's liberal Yabloko party, has been convicted of spreading 'lies' about the Russian army and sentenced to seven years in prison. The conviction comes just over two months before a parliamentary election in September.

Kruglov, who opposes the war in Ukraine, was arrested in October last year. The charges stem from two posts he made on the Telegram social media network in 2022, the year Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During his trial, Kruglov pleaded innocent and stated his belief that the war in Ukraine was a tragedy that needed to end as soon as possible.

One of the posts in question referenced United Nations data concerning the number of people killed in the conflict. The other post pertained to events in Bucha, a town north of Kyiv, in March 2022. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russian forces of killing civilians in Bucha, while Moscow maintains that the killings were staged to discredit its military.

The Yabloko party, once a significant liberal force in post-Soviet Russia, now holds only a few seats in regional parliaments and none in the national Duma. However, its continued participation in elections provides a platform for its anti-war stance.