A Moscow court on December 28 sentenced poets Artyom Kamardin and Yegor Shtovba to seven and 5 1/2 years in prison on charges of "inciting hatred and calling for anti-state activities" after they publicly recited verses condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Supporters chanted "Shame!" after the court's ruling was pronounced. Police detained several of them. Earlier in May, another poet, Nikolai Daineko, who agreed to cooperate with investigators, was handed a four-year prison term on the same charges. The three were arrested in September 2022 after they presented their anti-war poems in public. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Two Russians Get Prison Terms For Reciting Poems Against War On Ukraine
Artyom Kamardin (left) and Yegor Shtovba in a Moscow courtroom on December 27.