MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Moscow’s Gagarinsky Court sentenced public figure Leonid Gozman (deemed foreign agent in Russia) to 8.5 years in prison in absentia for dissemination of knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces, the court press office told TASS.

"The court deemed Gozman guilty under article 207.3 part two of the Russian criminal code, and sentenced him to 8.5 years of imprisonment in absentia," the press office said.

He was also banned from administering websites for 4 years.

Gozman, who is currently abroad, was sentenced over publication of false statements about the Russian leadership and the Russian Armed Forces on social media and on his Telegram channel.

In August 30, 2022, Gozman was arrested for 15 days for public equation of the USSR to the Nazi Germany. After serving his administrative sentence, Gozman left Russia later in September that year.