A district delegate in Moscow, Russia, was sentenced to seven years in prison for criticizing the invasion of Ukraine.
According to the TASS News Agency on the 10th, the Moscow District Court sentenced Alexei Gorinov (60)for spreading false information about the Russian military and undermining the military's trust.
In April, Gorinov was arrested for saying that Russia "must pay silent tribute to the victims" or "act against the neighboring sovereign state" over its invasion of Ukraine.
The charges were 'criticism of special operations' and 'production of fake news'. Russia claims that they are carrying out a "special military operation" rather than invading Ukraine.
Currently, the Russian government is naming the invasion of Ukraine a "special military operation." Since the war began, the government has revised the law to allow anyone who spreads fake newsto face up to 15 years in prison. The act of mass-producing fake news includes opposing the war or criticizing the government.
Gorinov became the first personsentenced to prison under the revised law. But he is not the only one accused of producing fake news after criticizing the invasion of Ukraine.
Opposition politician Ilya Yasin was arrested by police in March after publicly opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying on his Twitter account, "Russians and Ukrainians should not be killed each other."
Police have also arrested an employee of the broadcasting station who broke into the evening news of Russian state-run broadcaster and opposed the Ukraine's war.
Political commentator Tatiana Stanovaya said authorities were warning opponents.
"The use of the term ‘war’ has become an annoyance to the authorities," he said. "It would be considered an act of terrorism and a long prison term for a political figure like Gorinov to make such a statement."