MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court on Wednesday upheld the decision to sentence former Moscow municipal deputy Ilya Yashin (designated in Russia as a foreign agent) to 8.5 years in prison for spreading false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the special military operation in Ukraine, TASS reported from the courtroom.
"The court ruled to leave the original decision in Yashin's case unchanged, while the appeal of his defense - denied," said in the decision read out by the judge.
In December 2022, Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court handed an 8.5-year sentence to the former municipal deputy for spreading false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the special military operation in Ukraine. He was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code (publicly spreading propaganda about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces, motivated by political hatred).
The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Yashin after his YouTube live stream on April 7, 2022, where he talked about what was happening in Bucha, which the investigation said was misleading. Yashin maintains his innocence, saying that the video presented only his subjective view of the developments.
The court verdict states that Yashin intentionally and knowingly spread false information about the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine. "From the materials of RBC and Svobodnaya Pressa, it is clear that Ilya Yashin has a hatred for Russian state institutions," the document says. At the same time, during the trial Yashin stated that in the video about the events in Bucha he presented different points of view without making any definitive statements, and avoided biased judgments. The judge also noted that the arguments of the defendant Yashin and his defense about his innocence are refuted by the linguistic analysis conducted within the framework of the case.