A Moscow court on Wednesday sentenced Maxim Kruglov, deputy chairman of Russia’s liberal Yabloko party, to seven years in prison after convicting him of spreading false information about the Russian military. The verdict comes just weeks before Russia is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in September 2026.
Kruglov, 38, a former Moscow city councilor, had told the court during closing arguments that he was guided throughout his work by “love for his country” and a desire to see it peaceful and flourishing. At a hearing on June 17, he quoted his own words from his very first interrogation, conducted in the middle of the night after his arrest: “Combat operations are a tragedy; the loss of life must be stopped. A ceasefire agreement must be concluded as soon as possible.”
The criminal case against him centers on two posts he published on his Telegram channel in April 2022, in which he cited United Nations data on civilian deaths in Mariupol and referenced the killings of civilians in Bucha. Russia has denied that its forces committed atrocities in Bucha and blamed Ukrainian forces for the deaths in Mariupol.
The prosecution had asked the court to hand down an eight-year sentence, arguing that Kruglov’s guilt had been fully established. The defense countered that the party’s own expert witnesses, including a philologist and a psychologist who conducted a linguistic and psychological assessment of the posts, found no assertions about the army’s actions, and no evidence of hatred in the material.
Kruglov has been held in pretrial detention since October 2025. During that time, he was reportedly offered his release at least ten times in exchange for enlisting in the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, an offer his lawyer confirmed he declined every time.
Yabloko is one of the last registered opposition parties still operating in Russia. The party openly opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the outset and has faced a sweeping crackdown in the lead-up to the September 2026 State Duma elections. Amnesty International has described the pressure on Yabloko as a deliberate effort to purge the political landscape of any groups not under Kremlin control.
Yabloko’s leader, Nikolai Rybakov, said he believed the laws used against Kruglov could in practice be used to imprison anyone in Russia who wants peace, and called for all such repressive legislation to be repealed.
Human rights group Memorial had previously designated Kruglov a political prisoner, stating that his prosecution was solely linked to his anti-war stance and was intended to intimidate others who oppose the war. The group also linked the escalation of repression against Yabloko directly to the upcoming Duma elections.
Kruglov is not alone. Another Yabloko deputy chair, Lev Shlosberg, was arrested in June 2025 after calling for a ceasefire during a public debate, and party leader Nikolai Rybakov was convicted on an “extremism” charge that bars him from running in the September elections. At least five other regional Yabloko leaders and members have faced criminal prosecution, and around 50 administrative cases have been initiated against party members across Russia.
