RUSSIAN BLOGGER AND political activist Maxim Katz has been sentenced in absentia to eight years in jail after he was accused of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army.

Katz, who left Russia after the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, regularly criticises the conflict on his YouTube channel with over 1.8 million subscribers.

The court in Moscow ruled that Katz, “under the guise of reliable reports”, was guilty of “publicly spreading false information” about the Russian army, the TASS news agency reported.

According to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta government newspaper, the charge was related to a YouTube video from April 2022 where he allegedly accused the army of targeting civilians in Ukraine.

Since unleashing full-scale hostilities against Ukraine a year and a half ago, Moscow has waged an unprecedented crackdown on political dissents, jailing or fining dozens who oppose the conflict.

Another Russian court extended by three months the detention of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who had been reporting from Russia during the war when he was arrested and accused of spying.

Gershkovich, unlike many Western reporters, had continued to report from Russia during Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.

He was the first journalist arrested by Moscow on allegations of spying — which he and his employer strongly deny — since the Cold War, sending a chill through media circles.

“The time of detention has been extended by three months,” a spokesperson for Moscow’s Lefortovsky court said.

The new end-date for the detention is 30 November. 

© AFP 2023