State prosecutors in the northwestern city of Pskov have asked a judge to sentence veteran opposition politician Lev Shlosberg to 12 years and one month in prison for “discrediting” and spreading “fake news” about the Russian military, the liberal Yabloko party said Friday.
The requested sentence combines maximum penalties under wartime censorship laws with a previous November 2025 conviction in which Shlosberg was sentenced to 420 hours of community service for violating Russia's “foreign agent” law, the exiled news outlet Mediazona reported.
Shlosberg, a senior member of Yabloko, pleaded not guilty, instead accusing prosecutors of “discrediting” Russian law.
The military “fakes” charge stems from a Feb. 25, 2022, Telegram post in which Shlosberg reshared content from the now-defunct Ekho Moskvy radio station. The post featured a British tabloid cover depicting President Vladimir Putin alongside a bloodied woman.
Shlosberg argued in court that he made the post before Russia passed its wartime censorship laws.
