Press Release, 6.10.2026

Photo: Lev Shlosberg in court / Photo by Pskov Yabloko

Lev Shlosberg, Yabloko Deputy Chairman, and his lawyers Vladimir Danilov, Vera Kovalchuk and Leila Abdullayeva have filed appeals with the Pskov Regional Court against the sentence handed down by a judge of the Pskov City Court, who sentenced the politician to 11 years and 1 month in a general regime penal colony.

The court found the Deputy Chairman of Yabloko guilty of repeatedly “discrediting the army” over his debate with historian Yuri Pivovarov, in which Shlosberg had argued for the need for a ceasefire as soon as possible. He was also found guilty of spreading “fakes about the army” motivated by political hatred, over a repost of a Daily Mirror front page on his Telegram channel. The repost had been made in February 2022, before the relevant article was introduced into the Criminal Code.

In their appeals, the defence cites the following grounds for overturning the sentence:

• gross and repeatedly documented violations of the right to defence;
• the judge’s lack of impartiality and the harshness of the sentence;
• the absence of a criminal event under Article 207.3(2)(d) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“fakes about the army”);
• the absence of the elements of a crime under Article 280.3(1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“discrediting the army”);
• the open political hostility of the prosecution witnesses towards Lev Shlosberg.

The defence is demanding that the sentence be overturned and the case be sent back to the court of first instance for a fresh hearing by a differently composed court, so that Lev Shlosberg’s right to defence and to a fair trial is ensured.

No date has yet been set for the appeal hearing.

Read more about the appeal (in Russian).