Russian lawyer handed 7-year prison term for speaking out against the Ukraine war on social media

Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian human rights group says a court in Russia convicted a prominent lawyer and sentenced him to seven years in prison for speaking out against the war in Ukraine on social media. The verdict in the case of Dmitry Talantov, who once chaired a regional association of lawyers in Russia’s central Udmurtia republic, is the latest in the unabating crackdown the Kremlin has unleashed against dissent after sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Talantov is one of dozens of Russians arrested under a law adopted just over a week after the invasion that essentially bans any public expression about the war that deviates from the official narrative.