Theatre Director Sentenced for Anti-War Posts in Russia

Anastasia Berezhinskaya, a Moscow-based theatre director, has been sentenced to eight years in a penal colony for online anti-war comments, including calls for President Putin's assassination. She was charged under wartime censorship laws, joining over 1,000 others prosecuted for opposing the war in Ukraine.

A Moscow military court has sentenced Anastasia Berezhinskaya, a 43-year-old theatre director, to eight years in a penal colony for posting anti-war comments online, including calls for the assassination of President Vladimir Putin. Russian news agencies reported that Berezhinskaya was found guilty under two wartime censorship laws, which include discrediting the Russian army and spreading false information about it, along with justifying terrorism.

This is part of a larger crackdown, with rights group OVD-Info noting over 1,000 prosecutions and more than 20,000 detentions related to anti-war activities. The court also sentenced a pediatrician to five-and-a-half years in prison earlier this week, illustrating the severe penalties for dissent in Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Despite the harsh sentence, Berezhinskaya partially admitted to the charges of spreading "fakes" and discrediting the army. She contested the charge of justifying terrorism. Berezhinskaya has two children and a husband with epilepsy. Her comments on social media had targeted President Putin, who she held responsible for civilian deaths in Ukraine.

(With inputs from agencies.)