Russian opposition politician Shlosberg sentenced to 11 years in prison

A Russian court on Monday convicted prominent opposition politician Lev Shlosberg for speaking out against the war in Ukraine and sentenced him to 11 years and one month in prison, in the latest crackdown on dissent ahead of next month’s parliamentary election.

The verdict against Shlosberg, a senior member of the Yabloko party, marks another step in the Kremlin’s efforts to silence criticism since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Yabloko is the only officially registered political party that openly opposes the war.

In a separate ruling on Monday, Russia’s Supreme Court upheld its earlier decision to bar Yabloko from the ballot in the September 18-20 parliamentary election, rejecting an appeal by the party.

The moves against Shlosberg and Yabloko highlight the Kremlin’s intolerance of criticism of the war, now in its fifth year.

Second trial in two years

Shlosberg, 63, is Yabloko’s deputy chairman and served in the regional legislature of Pskov from 2016 to 2021. He stood trial in Pskov, about 600 kilometres northwest of Moscow, on charges of “discrediting” the Russian military and spreading “false information” about it.

The charges stemmed from a debate in which he called for an end to the war and from a post on his Telegram channel featuring a British tabloid front page showing an image of a bloodied woman alongside one of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the headline: “Her blood ... his hands.” Shlosberg has rejected the charges as unfounded.

It was his second trial in two years. He has also been designated a “foreign agent”, a label carrying strong pejorative connotations in Russia and subjecting individuals to additional government scrutiny. He was convicted of violating regulations governing foreign agents.

Shlosberg was placed in pretrial detention in December 2025 and has remained behind bars since then. He is among several prominent Yabloko members who have been jailed or designated “foreign agents” in recent years as pressure on the party has intensified.

Yabloko described the sentence as “barbaric” and said Shlosberg was being punished for his “love of the Motherland and calls for a ceasefire”. The party said it would appeal.

Amnesty International also condemned the verdict.

“His arbitrary prosecution and sentencing are blatant reprisals for exercising his right to freedom of expression to call for peace,” said Marie Struthers, the group’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director.

“The Russian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Lev Shlosberg and quash his conviction,” she said, urging Moscow to repeal laws criminalising peaceful anti-war expression and end the persecution of Yabloko members and supporters.

Supreme Court upholds Yabloko election ban

In Moscow, the Supreme Court upheld its decision to remove Yabloko from the State Duma election ballot, rejecting the party’s appeal.

The Central Election Commission had allowed Yabloko to contest the election alongside 10 other parties in July. Since then, young social media users and many Russian opposition figures in exile have expressed support for the party, once a leading liberal voice in parliament before losing its bloc of seats as the Kremlin tightened its control over politics.

Yabloko’s campaign slogans for this year’s election include “For a ceasefire agreement, diplomacy and peace!”, “Our goal is to prevent nuclear war!” and “For a Russia free from fear and political repression!”

Several Kremlin-aligned parties criticised Yabloko’s anti-war position after it secured a place on the ballot. The Motherland Party filed a lawsuit seeking its removal, accusing Yabloko of copyright infringement and exceeding campaign spending limits. It also argued that the party’s position on Ukraine was unlawful and amounted to a call for violating Russia’s territorial integrity.

Yabloko rejected the accusations, but the Supreme Court sided with the Motherland Party.

As the court considered Yabloko’s appeal on Monday, supporters gathered outside the courthouse, while Russian media reported that several dozen people were detained.

Liberal politician Grigory Yavlinsky, who co-founded Yabloko in the 1990s and chairs its political committee, described the ruling as evidence of “a serious, deepening crisis in the Russian political system and a lack of understanding of a desired future”.

Yabloko chairman Nikolai Rybakov said the party would continue its legal challenge by filing a complaint with the Presidium of the Supreme Court and possibly the Constitutional Court.

“We achieved the main thing: The whole world knows how many people in Russia want peace, want to live normally and to raise children under a peaceful sky in their country,” Rybakov said.

Regarding Shlosberg’s prison sentence, he added: “Our feelings are with Lev and other political prisoners who have fought and are fighting for peace, for people to not die.”