Press Release, 11.11.2026

Photo: Lev Shlosberg in court via video link on 11 November 2026 / Photo by Pskov Yabloko

On Wednesday, 11 November, the Pskov Regional Court continued hearing the appeals filed by Yabloko Deputy Chairman Lev Shlosberg and his lawyers against the politician’s sentence in the consolidated case. The hearing went on until late in the evening, and part of Shlosberg’s speech in the closing arguments was postponed until the following day.

It should be noted that on 17 August 2026, a judge of the Pskov City Court sentenced Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and 1 month in a general regime penal colony. A judge of the Pskov City Court found Lev Shlosberg, Yabloko Deputy Chairman, guilty of repeatedly “discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces” over his debate with historian Yuri Pivovarov, in which Shlosberg had argued for the need for a ceasefire as soon as possible. The judge also found him guilty of disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces 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 had been introduced into the Criminal Code. The appeals against the sentence were filed by three defence lawyers: Vladimir Danilov, Vera Kovalchuk and Leila Abdullayeva. In total, the defence cited more than 20 grounds for overturning the politician’s sentence. The first appeal hearing in Lev Shlosberg’s case took place on 29 October, the second on 6 November and the third on 10 November, when the court also announced that it would move on to the closing arguments.

The appeals are being heard by the Judicial Panel for Criminal Cases of the Pskov Regional Court.

At the fourth hearing, on 11 November, Lev Shlosberg once again took part via video link from the pre-trial detention facility. Of his three lawyers, only Vladimir Danilov attended the hearing. Leila Abdullayeva and Vera Kovalchuk had earlier asked the court to schedule the hearing around their work commitments, so that they could take part in the closing arguments. Today, both defence lawyers filed motions for an adjournment.

Lev Shlosberg also asked for the hearing to be adjourned until 17 November and for two days to prepare.

The panel of judges partially granted the motion, allowing the politician 70 minutes to confer with his defence lawyer via video link.

After the break, Lev Shlosberg again asked for the opportunity to meet his lawyer at the pre-trial detention facility to prepare for the closing arguments. After conferring in the courtroom, the judges left the motion unconsidered, because “it was considered earlier”.

The politician said that he was forced to speak in the closing arguments, as he had in effect been left no choice:

“I consider it impossible to refuse to speak in the closing arguments. I will use the documents and materials that were prepared earlier by the defence lawyers.”

In total, the politician spoke for more than three and a half hours, but was unable to say everything he had wanted to. At 21:30, the presiding judge stopped him and announced a break. Most of Lev Shlosberg’s speech concerned the violation of his right to defence.

“It was open and ostentatious mockery,” was how Lev Shlosberg described the proceedings in the court of first instance.

The hearing will continue on 12 November at 9:30.