cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/47381319
Maxim Kruglov, the former deputy head of the Moscow branch of Yabloko, one of Russia’s last remaining opposition parties, has been offered his release in exchange for military service in Ukraine at least 10 times since the beginning of the year, his lawyer Natalya Tikhonova said.
Kruglov, who has been in pretrial detention since October, would never “join the military in any capacity”, Tikhonova said in her post, noting her client’s strong opposition to the war in Ukraine and the fact that Kruglov has been legally disqualified from military service anyway since the state deemed him “prone to extremism”.
Kruglov was arrested on 1 October for two posts he made about Russian military atrocities in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha on his Telegram channel in April 2022. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the posts constituted the spreading of false information about the Russian military, which was made illegal shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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Kruglov could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
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