Russian editor sentenced to eight years for criticising Ukraine campaign

Russian news editor sentenced to 8 years for criticizing Moscow's actions in Ukraine, part of crackdown on dissent.

A Russian news editor in Siberia was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday for publishing critical material on Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, which has been accompanied in Russia by a massive crackdown on dissent.

Sergei Mikhailov, a journalist and editor in the mountainous Altai region, was arrested in the first weeks of the Kremlin launching the military campaign in 2022, shortly after repressive laws that banned criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine were adopted.

He had published online posts about civilian deaths in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha and in Mariupol.

A court in the city of Gorno-Altaisk sentenced the 48-year-old after finding him guilty of "knowingly spreading fake information" about the Russian army.

Prosecutors said he was "motivated by political hatred."

Mikhailov ran the small online opposition social media channel "Listok" in Siberia's Altai republic -- a region that has sent many men to Ukraine.

In a speech in court earlier this week, Mikhailov stood by his reporting and harshly criticised the Kremlin for sending troops to Ukraine.