Criticizing the Ukraine war leads to 5-year forced labor sentence
In a recent ruling by the Moscow city courts service, a 39-year-old Russian man, Yuri Kokhovets, was sentenced to five years of forced labor for disseminating what authorities deemed “deliberately false information” regarding the Russian military during an interview with U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) about the conflict in Ukraine.
During the interview with RFE/RL journalists in July 2022, Kokhovets expressed opinions critical of the Russian government’s involvement in the conflict.
“Of course we need (a de-escalation), but it all depends on our government. It is our government that started it all… It is Russia who created all these problems.”
Kokhovets also denied any aggressive intentions from NATO and alleged that Russian forces had committed unjustified killings of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.