LONDON — A military court in Moscow sentenced a 43-year-old woman to eight years in a penal colony on Thursday (Nov 14) for posting anti-war comments online, including several calling for the assassination of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Russian news agencies reported.
Anastasia Berezhinskaya, a Moscow-based theatre director and mother of two young children, was found guilty of two wartime censorship laws — discrediting the Russian army and spreading false information about it — as well as justifying terrorism.
More than 1,000 people have been criminally prosecuted in Russia for speaking out against the war in Ukraine, according to rights project OVD-Info, and more than 20,000 have been detained for protesting.
On Tuesday, a Moscow court sentenced a 68-year-old paediatrician to 5.5 years in prison after the mother of one of her patients publicly denounced her over comments about Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
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In the first months following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Berezhinskaya published dozens of posts online against the conflict. The Russian army, the Interior Ministry and Putin himself, she said, were waging a "genocide" against the Ukrainian people.
On May 14, 2022, she posted more than three dozen times on VKontakte, a social network, hurling insults at Putin and saying he bore personal responsibility for the deaths of men, women and children whose bodies were being pulled from under the rubble of Ukrainian apartment blocks.
Moscow denies deliberately attacking civilians in what it calls its "special military operation", although thousands have died in Russian attacks.
As Berezhinskaya continued to post that day in May, she began to call for the death of Putin, who at 72 years old is on course to become Russia's longest-serving leader since Empress Catherine the Great in the 18th century.
"Shoot that stupid [expletive] Putin, how many more murders of civilians do we have to bear?" she wrote. "Wipe him off the face of the earth."
Berezhinskaya admitted guilt under the charges of spreading "fakes" and discrediting the army, independent news outlet Mediazona reported, but only partially admitted guilt under the justifying terrorism charge.
Reuters was not able to immediately contact her lawyer to ask if she would file an appeal.
Berezhinskaya suffers from a mixed personality disorder, Mediazona said, citing the case materials. She has two children, aged eight and 10, and a husband who has epilepsy, the outlet reported.
In her final statement to the court, cited by Mediazona, Berezhinskaya said: "Your Honour, I have nothing to say, nothing to add. I will accept any decision you make."
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