Russian Court Upholds Prison Sentence for Opposition Leader Who Criticized Ukraine Invasion

Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin's appeal of his 8 1/2-year prison sentence was dismissed by a Moscow court.
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine and was later sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison for violating a censorship law.
Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition activist and critic of the Kremlin and Putin, lost his appeal against an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence for spreading false information about the army.
Yashin was convicted in December for statements he made on his YouTube channel about war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Moscow has introduced sweeping censorship laws to silence dissenting voices, and pro-government politicians cast those who question Moscow's actions as pro-Western subversives who deserve prison.