Russian Poets Sentenced to Prison for Anti-War Verses

Amid a crackdown on dissent, Artyom Kamardin and Yegor Shtovba face years in prison for their public anti-war expressions.

Russian poet Artyom Kamardin has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for reciting anti-war verses during a street performance in Moscow.
Yegor Shtovba, who participated in the event and recited Kamardin's verses, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years on the same charges.
Kamardin's arrest was reportedly violent, with claims that police beat and raped him, forcing him to film an apology video.
Kamardin's wife, Alexandra Popova, was escorted out of the courtroom after shouting 'Shame!' following the verdict. She and several others were later detained on charges of holding an unsanctioned 'rally' outside the court building.
Between late February 2022 and earlier this month, 19,847 people have been detained in Russia for speaking out or protesting against the war, while 794 people have been implicated in criminal cases over their anti-war stance.