A Moscow court sentenced in absentia police officer Oleg Kashintsev to eight years in prison on a charge of discrediting Russia's armed forces by spreading "false" information about Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Kashintsev's lawyer said on January 27 the court also stripped Kashintsev's major rank and barred him from administering social networks and from serving in police ranks for four years. Kashintsev fled Russia several months ago. His case is the first about "fake" news on Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine that was tried in absentia. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
Russian Police Officer Gets Eight Years In Prison In Absentia Over Posts About War In Ukraine
Oleg Kashintsev, a former Russian policeman, holds a placard reading "Free Navalny! Putin is a killer!" on Moscow's Red Square in 2021.