Click to expand Image Lev Shlosberg, deputy leader of the Yabloko party, stands in the defendant's box prior to the delivery of the verdict in the case against him, in a court in Pskov, Russia, August 17, 2026. © 2026 AP Photo A court in northwestern Russia, on August 17, sentenced opposition politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in prison for repeatedly “discrediting” and spreading false information about the Russian army.Shlosberg is the deputy leader of the opposition party “Yabloko,” which has openly called for a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine.The same day Shlosberg was convicted, “Yabloko” lost its appeal against the Supreme Court’s August 10 decision to cancel the party’s registration for the upcoming parliamentary elections. As a result, no pro-peace parties remain on the September ballot.The court found that Shlosberg, who was indicted for spreading false information and discrediting the Russian army in December and June 2025, respectively, had spread “false information” by reposting a Daily Mirror cover depicting a wounded Ukrainian teacher next to an image of the Russian President Vladimir Putin entitled “her blood … his hands.” The “discreditation” charges stemmed from a recording of Shlosberg’s online public debates about Russia’s war in Ukraine.In January 2025, Russian authorities barred him from leaving Russia. They subsequently placed him under house arrest in June 2025 and then pretrial detention in December 2025.This is not the first time Russian authorities have targeted Shlosberg for criticizing Russia’s war in Ukraine. Since 2022, courts have repeatedly fined him for “discrediting” the Russian army. Using Russia’s draconian law designed to stifle and stigmatize independent voices, authorities labeled Shlosberg a “foreign agent” in 2023. After uploading five videos to his social media page without having added a “foreign agent” disclaimer, in November 2025 a court ordered that Shlosberg perform 420 hours of mandatory labor, —even though he was under house arrest at the time.Shlosberg’s harsh sentencing, the Yabloko party’s canceled registration to participate in upcoming elections, and mass detentions of its supporters underscore the severe, ongoing restrictions on freedom of speech and peaceful assembly in Russia today and the denial of political plurality. Shlosberg should be set free.