A Russian poet was given a 7-year prison sentence for reciting verses against Russia’s war in Ukraine, a tough punishment that comes during a relentless Kremlin crackdown on dissent.
Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court convicted Artyom Kamardin on charges of making calls undermining national security and inciting hatred, which related to him reading his anti-war poems during a street performance in downtown Moscow in September 2022.
Yegor Shtovba, who participated in the event and recited Kamardin’s verses, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years on the same charges.
The gathering next to the monument to poet Vladimir Mayakovsky was held days after President Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization of 300,000 reservists amid Moscow’s military setbacks in Ukraine.
The widely unpopular move prompted hundreds of thousands to flee Russia to avoid being recruited into the military.
Police swiftly dispersed the performance and soon arrested Kamardin and several other participants.
