Russia’s prominent anti-war politician jailed for 11 years: Who is Lev Shlosberg? What was his crime?

Russia has sentenced prominent opposition politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a penal colony. The 63-year-old Yabloko party leader was convicted over anti-war statements and posts about Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. Yabloko is Russia’s only registered political party to have openly opposed the war in Ukraine. The Pskov court handed down the sentence on Monday (August 17). Prosecutors had sought 12 years and one month.

Who is Lev Shlosberg?

Lev Markovich Shlosberg is a veteran Russian opposition politician, journalist, historian and human-rights activist who is the deputy chairman of Yabloko. Born in Pskov on 30 July 1963, Shlosberg studied history at Pskov State Pedagogical Institute and graduated in 1985. He later studied at the Moscow School of Civic Education. He served in the Soviet Army from 1985 to 1987. After leaving the military, he worked as a teacher at a vocational school for juvenile offenders.

He joined Yabloko in 1994 and led its Pskov regional branch from 1996 to 2023. He also served in the Pskov Oblast Assembly of Deputies between 2011 and 2015, and again from 2016 to 2021.

As a journalist, Shlosberg published and edited the regional newspaper Pskovskaya Guberniya, which reported on the deaths of Russian soldiers linked to the Donbas conflict in 2014. That reporting brought him threats and violence, and he was assaulted after the newspaper published the investigation.

Why was Shlosberg jailed?

Russian authorities accused Shlosberg of two offences: publicly discrediting Russia’s armed forces under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code, and spreading false information about the military under Article 207.3.

The case centred on his anti-war statements. Shlosberg took part in an online discussion in which he called for an end to the fighting in Ukraine, describing the war as a catastrophe for Russia and urging a ceasefire.

He was also prosecuted over a Telegram post from February 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The post shared an Echo of Moscow link featuring a Daily Mirror front page depicting a bloodied woman alongside President Vladimir Putin.

Shlosberg has rejected the accusations, calling the court proceedings politically motivated.

Sentencing follows years of pressure on Shlosberg and comes amid wider crackdown

Shlosberg was designated a “foreign agent” in 2023. In 2025, he was convicted of violating foreign-agent rules and ordered to complete 420 hours of compulsory labour. The latest sentence incorporated that earlier conviction.

Yabloko said it would appeal. The party itself faces growing pressure and has been barred from the September 2026 parliamentary elections.

Human-rights groups have condemned the prosecution. Memorial, the Russian human-rights organisation, recognises Shlosberg as a political prisoner.

His case reflects the widening risks for Russian politicians, journalists and activists who publicly challenge the Kremlin’s position on the war in Ukraine.