A Russian military court sentenced a 43-year-old theatre director and mother of two to eight years in a penal colony Thursday for posting anti-war comments online, including calls for President Vladimir Putin’s assassination, marking another harsh punishment in the Kremlin’s ongoing crackdown on war critics.
Anastasia Berezhinskaya was convicted under multiple wartime censorship laws, including discrediting the Russian army, spreading false information, and justifying terrorism. Her case joins more than 1,000 criminal prosecutions for anti-war speech in Russia, according to rights group OVD-Info, with over 20,000 protesters detained since the invasion began.
The Moscow-based director posted dozens of messages on social media platform VKontakte in the months following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. She accused Putin, the Russian army, and the Interior Ministry of conducting “genocide” against Ukrainians.
Court documents show that on May 14, 2022, Berezhinskaya posted more than three dozen times, condemning Putin for civilian deaths in Ukraine and explicitly calling for his death. “Shoot that stupid bastard Putin, how many more murders of civilians do we have to bear?” she wrote. “Wipe him off the face of the earth.”
Moscow denies targeting civilians in what it calls its “special military operation,” despite thousands of documented civilian casualties in Russian attacks.
The sentence highlights escalating penalties for war criticism in Russia. Earlier this week, a Moscow court handed down a five-and-a-half-year prison term to a 68-year-old pediatrician after a patient’s mother reported her comments about Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
According to independent news outlet Mediazona, Berezhinskaya admitted guilt to charges of spreading “fakes” and discrediting the army but only partially acknowledged the terrorism justification charge. The court documents noted she suffers from a mixed personality disorder and has two children, ages eight and ten, and a husband with epilepsy.
“Your Honour, I have nothing to say, nothing to add. I will accept any decision you make,” Berezhinskaya said in her final statement to the court, as reported by Mediazona.
The case represents another significant punishment for criticizing Putin, who at 72 is poised to become Russia’s longest-serving leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Reuters could not immediately reach Berezhinskaya’s lawyer to confirm whether an appeal would be filed.
REUTERS
