A court in Russia's western exclave of Kaliningrad sentenced a resident of the town of Svetlogorsk to six years in prison on September 19 for online posts criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The court found Andrei Lugovoi guilty of spreading false information about the Russian armed forces based on politically motivated hatred. He was also banned from administering websites for four years.
The charge stemmed from several posts by Lugovoi in 2022 on an online messenger about Russia's missile attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities that killed many civilians and alleged atrocities committed by occupying Russian soldiers against Ukrainian citizens.
Russia has denied targeting civilians in its attacks on Ukrainian cities and has repeatedly denied its forces have committed any war crimes even with mounting evidence that it has targeted hospitals, residential areas, cultural centers, and other nonmilitary installations.
Lugovoi was arrested in December 2023 after police searched his grandmother's apartment, where he was officially registered, and confiscated a laptop, two mobile phones and routers.
Lugovoi has maintained his innocence.
Dozens of Russian journalists, bloggers, and Internet users have been handed prison terms on the charge of distributing false information about Russian armed forces since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In the weeks following the invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law bills criminalizing any criticism of the Russian armed forces and the war in Ukraine.
In February, Putin signed a bill allowing for the confiscation of property and assets of individuals convicted of distributing "false" information about Russia's armed forces, calls to violate Russia's territorial integrity, calls for sanctions against Russia and its citizens, collaborating to implement decisions by international organizations Russia does not take part in, rehabilitating Nazism, and other charges related to laws adopted after Moscow launched its full-scale aggression against its neighbor.