A Russian court has sentenced veteran opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov to six years in prison, the latest high-profile conviction amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent that has intensified since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Udaltsov, a pro-war leftist who has nevertheless been a long-time critic of President Vladimir Putin, was convicted of justifying terrorism, according to court documents cited by independent media. The ruling orders him to serve his sentence in a maximum-security penal colony.
Udaltsov leads the Left Front movement, which opposes Putin and is affiliated with Russia’s Communist Party. He was arrested last year after prosecutors accused him of endorsing another group of Russian activists who were later convicted of forming a terrorist organization, according to the Associated Press.
According to Mediazona, the case centered on an article Udaltsov posted online in support of those activists. They were convicted earlier this month and handed prison sentences ranging from 16 to 22 years.
Udaltsov has dismissed the charges as fabricated. Following Thursday’s verdict, he denounced the ruling as shameful and announced he was going on a hunger strike, Mediazona reported.
Once a prominent face of Russia’s opposition, Udaltsov rose to national attention during the mass protests of 2011–12, sparked by allegations of widespread fraud in parliamentary elections. In February 2012, he took part in a meeting between opposition figures and then-President Dmitry Medvedev.
His clashes with authorities, however, have been persistent. In 2014, Udaltsov was sentenced to four and a half years in prison over his role in organizing a 2012 protest against Putin that later turned violent. He was released in 2017.
More recently, a Moscow court in December 2023 sentenced him to 40 hours of compulsory labor for violating rules governing public demonstrations. That case followed his detention on Red Square, where he attempted to unfurl a flag bearing the image of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of people have been jailed on charges ranging from extremism to spreading “false information,” while thousands more have fled the country to avoid prosecution.
– Ends
With inputs from Associated Press
