A Russian court sentenced politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a penal colony on charges of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian military and spreading “false information” about it, Amnesty International said on Monday.
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, called the sentencing “blatant reprisals for exercising his right to freedom of expression to call for peace” and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.
The sentence from a Pskov City Court judge combines penalties under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes repeated “discrediting” of the armed forces, and Article 207.3, which criminalizes dissemination of “knowingly false information” about the Russian military and carries up to 15 years in a penal colony. Both provisions were introduced by Federal Law No. 32-FZ, signed into law on March 4, 2022. The combined sentence also factored in a prior November 2025 conviction under Russia’s “foreign agent” law that carried 420 hours of community service, falling below the 12 years and one month sought by prosecutor Anna Goryacheva.
The Article 207.3 charge rested on a Telegram post Shlosberg reposted on February 25, 2022, seven days before Federal Law No. 32-FZ was signed. Shlosberg argued throughout proceedings that he could not be prosecuted under a law that did not exist when he acted. The Article 280.3 charge stemmed from a video debate in which Shlosberg called for an immediate ceasefire. According to Mediazona, prosecutors attributed statements to him that were made by his debate opponent, the very positions Shlosberg was arguing against. Judge Malyamova concluded the judicial investigation phase without defense counsel present, and Shlosberg was never interrogated in court. In his final statement, Shlosberg argued that the case had no genuine legal substance and was designed to punish him for his political stance, according to Mediazona.
Shlosberg, 63, is deputy chairman of Yabloko, the only registered Russian party openly opposing the war in Ukraine. Authorities have previously targeted the party: in May 2025, police raided a Yabloko event in Yekaterinburg and detained ten attendees. On the same day as the sentencing, Russia’s Supreme Court rejected Yabloko’s appeal of its removal from the September 20 State Duma ballot, the first time a party had been removed from a Duma election since 1999, over alleged copyright and campaign finance violations following a challenge by nationalist party Rodina and supported by both the Central Election Commission and state prosecutor. Yabloko chairman Nikolai Rybakov said the party would challenge the ruling before Russia’s Constitutional Court.
