Maxim Kruglov, deputy leader of Russia’s liberal Yabloko party and a former member of the Moscow City Legislature, was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony by a Moscow court on Wednesday after being convicted of spreading what Russian authorities classify as false information about the military.
The case rests entirely on two posts Kruglov published on Telegram in April 2022, shortly after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. One post cited United Nations data on casualties in the conflict, the other referenced events in Bucha, the town north of Kyiv where hundreds of civilians were found dead after Russian forces withdrew. Ukraine and Western governments blamed Russian troops for the killings. Moscow has maintained the scenes were staged.
Kruglov, who is 39 years old, pleaded not guilty throughout the trial and told the court the war was a tragedy that needed to end as quickly as possible. After the verdict, he said the case proved that public dissent in Russia had effectively been made illegal.
The timing of the verdict is striking as Russia goes to the polls in September to elect a new State Duma, the lower house of parliament, and Yabloko had hoped to use the campaign to voice its anti-war position. The party, once one of Russia’s most prominent liberal movements, currently holds no seats in the national parliament, only a small number of regional posts.
The conviction is the latest in a series of prosecutions targeting opposition figures and activists who have spoken out against the Ukraine war.
