Ilya Yashin arrested on felony charges

Source: Meduza

Opposition politician Ilya Yashin, the municipal deputy for Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district, has been arrested for allegedly spreading “fake news” about the Russian military, Mediazona reported. A judge at Moscow's Basmanny District Court granted prosecutors’ request for Yashin to be put in a remand prison until September 12.

The Russian authorities opened a criminal case against Yashin on July 12 in response to a YouTube livestream in which Yashin talked about Russian troops killing civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. Officers conducted a search of his home that night after bringing Yashin there from the detention center where he had been serving a 15-day sentence for allegedly disobeying police. After the search, Yashin was taken to a remand prison.

On July 13, Yashin was indicted for distributing “fake news about the army on the basis of political hatred.”

  • Ilya Yashin was one of the only opposition politicians to have remained in Russia since the start of the war against Ukraine.
  • In May, the Russian authorities filed four administrative offense reports against Yashin for “discrediting” the army.
  • Two other deputies from the Krasnoselsky district have been charged with spreading “fake news” about the army: Alexey Gorinov and Yelena Kotenochkina. On July 8, Gorinov was sentenced to seven years in prison. Kotenochkina has left Russia.