Russia jails anti-war politician Shlosberg for 11 years over army criticism

A court in Pskov, in northwestern Russia, handed down its verdict on a Monday in August: eleven years and one month in a penal colony for Lev Shlosberg, a sixty-three-year-old politician whose crime was speaking against the war in Ukraine. The charges were framed in the language of the state—"discrediting" the armed forces, "spreading false information"—but Shlosberg knew what the trial actually was. He said so in his closing remarks, calling it theater designed to punish him for his political beliefs, for his refusal to support the invasion that began in 2022.

Shlosberg is the deputy head of Yabloko, a liberal party that stands alone among Russia's registered political organizations in its opposition to the war. His comments, published on social media, became the basis for prosecution. The state had asked for twelve years and one month; the court settled on eleven. During his final speech, he was interrupted repeatedly by the judge. He rejected every charge. He called again for a ceasefire and for dialogue. The transcript was published by Novaya Gazeta, one of the few outlets still documenting such proceedings.

The timing was not accidental. Minutes before the verdict was read, Russia's Supreme Court rejected Yabloko's appeal against a ban that would keep the party off the ballot in September's parliamentary elections. The grounds for that ban were striking: the party, the court said, publicly supports the "international LGBT movement," which Russia designates as extremist. A nationalist party aligned with the Kremlin also sued, claiming copyright infringement. Yabloko denies all accusations.

What happened to Shlosberg and what happened to his party are two expressions of the same machinery. Since the full-scale invasion began, any remaining space for dissent in Russia has been systematically closed. Wartime censorship laws now carry teeth—fines that can devastate, prison sentences that stretch across years. President Vladimir Putin, in power for nearly twenty-seven years, has watched opposition crumble. The mechanisms are legal. The effect is total.

All ten other parties competing in the September election support the war. The ruling United Russia party, which dominates parliament, has seen its approval ratings slip to 32.1 percent, the lowest point since May according to state polling. Yet the Kremlin is widely understood to have the machinery in place to produce whatever result it desires. Independent election monitors, the organizations that might have challenged irregularities or documented problems, have been stripped of most of their power to observe or intervene.

Shlosberg will spend more than a decade in a penal colony. His party will not appear on the ballot. The message is clear, and it is meant to be. In Russia today, opposing the war is not merely unpopular—it is illegal, and the punishment is severe. What remains to be seen is whether the September election, conducted without meaningful opposition or independent oversight, will be remembered as the moment the last institutional space for dissent finally closed.