War in Ukraine: five years of correctional labor for criticizing the Russian offensive under a microphone on the sidewalk

The Kremlin also sanctions ordinary passersby to whom journalists pass their microphones. A court on Monday sentenced a Russian man to five years of forced labor for criticizing the Ukrainian offensive during a street microphone, in a new illustration of the repression raging in Russia, independent media reported. While hundreds of opponents, activists and ordinary Russians have been jailed for expressing dissent since the Russian attack on Ukraine began, this is the first known case of prosecution for answering questions from journalists.

Yuri Kokhovets was found guilty by a Moscow court of “discrediting the army” and sentenced to five years of correctional labor, independent media outlets SOTVision, Mediazona and NPO OVD-Info reported. In July 2022, he spontaneously responded to a request from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for an interview with passers-by on the streets of Moscow and openly criticized the authorities, as well as the offensive in Ukraine.

“Bandits”

When questioned outside a metro station, he believed, in part, that Vladimir Putin and the Russian government were “bandits” responsible for the conflict, and rejected the Kremlin’s arguments to explain the attack. He also accused the Russian military of “killing without cause” civilians in Bucha, a town near Kyiv that was the site of a massacre attributed to Moscow troops at the start of their 2022 offensive.

He was first arrested, then released by the police with a small fine, and eventually his case was reclassified under a charge introduced into the Criminal Code at the beginning of the conflict and under which thousands of Russians had already been sentenced, sometimes to heavy prison terms.

Almost all of the main opponents fled Russia or ended up in prison. The most famous of them, Alexei Navalny, died under unclear circumstances in an Arctic prison in February. According to the NGO Memorial, there are currently 708 political prisoners in this country.