A military court in Siberia has sentenced two teenagers to prison terms for graffiti against Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
19-year-old Aleksander Snežkov was sentenced to six, and 16-year-old Ljubov Lizunova to three and a half years in prison for the criminal offense of inciting terrorist and extremist activities.
Previously, the prosecutor asked for seven years for Snježkov and five for Lizunova, Radio Free Europe reports in English.
The third defendant in the case was Vladislav Višnevski, and the court sentenced him to one and a half years of forced labor.
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The teenagers were detained at the end of October 2022 in the Siberian city of Chita, after they wrote the graffiti "Death to the regime" on one of the garages.
At first, they were under surveillance, but in January 2023, it became known that Aleksander was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center in Omsk, while Ljubov was transferred to house arrest.
At the beginning of April 2024, the court also sent her to pre-trial detention. They were charged with the criminal offense of vandalism, but the court rejected that lawsuit due to the statute of limitations.
Snezhkov previously told RFE/RL that he and Lizunova wanted to express their opposition to "repression and the war in Ukraine" with their graffiti.
"We live in a time of repression, destruction of our own people in war and in peace. Many have felt the rise in prices due to the destruction of the economy, every month I learn about arrests. It will only get worse,” Alexander said.
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