Russian opposition politician Maxim Kruglov, deputy leader of the liberal Yabloko party, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army. The conviction comes more than two months before Russia’s State Duma election, which has been set for September 20, 2026.
Kruglov, a former Moscow city legislator, was arrested in October 2025 over two Telegram posts he published in 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He denied the charges at trial and said he believes the war in Ukraine is a tragedy that must end as soon as possible.themoscowtimes+1
One of the posts referred to UN figures on deaths in the conflict, while another mentioned events in Bucha, where Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russian forces of killing civilians; Moscow says the killings were staged to discredit its troops. Yabloko, which has long opposed the war, still contests elections despite having only a small foothold in regional politics and no seats in the national parliament.