In Russia, a blogger is sentenced to eight and a half years for “slandering the army”

Ivanov, 23, is the creator of the Telegram app channel “Protestnij MGU” (Protesting Moscow State University) and is accused of distributing posts criticizing Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine.

In particular, he is incriminated by the records containing news about the bombing of Ukrainian cities and the killing of civilians in the temporarily occupied Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol.

The prosecution demanded that the blogger be sentenced to nine years in prison for this alleged “crime”, but the court “limited” it to eight and a half years of imprisonment.

“You have to understand that there is no Russia [diktators Vladimirs] Putin. Tens of millions of Russians are against this criminal war,” Ivanov was quoted as saying in the courtroom by the independent news site Mediazona.

“This is a dark moment in our history, but it is always before the sunrise,” added the blogger, who has been in pre-trial detention since last June.

Already last year, Ivanov was twice sentenced to administrative arrest for his posts on the “Telegram” channel “Protestnij MGU”.

Shortly after the repeated invasion of Ukraine, amendments to the criminal code entered into force in Russia, which provide for up to 15 years in prison for spreading “fake news” that reflects the aggression of the Russian armed forces against Ukraine.

The Russian authorities have declared as fake news any information that reveals the war crimes committed in Ukraine, the killing of civilians, the losses suffered by Russians and the resistance of the Ukrainian people to the invaders.

In Russia, it is even forbidden to call the war launched against Ukraine a war or an invasion, or any other suitable name. All media are forced to use the euphemism imposed by the Kremlin – “special operation”.