A court in Moscow sentenced among the first individuals charged under Russias wartime law versus spreading knowingly incorrect info to 9 years in jail in absentia on Monday, the independent broadcaster Sota reported.Veronika Belotserkovskaya, a Ukrainian-born Russian reporter and the owner of a culinary school in France where she lives, was amongst the first people to be charged with spreading out false details about the invasion of Ukraine after she posted on Instagram about Russias shelling of a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and the massacre of civilians by Russian forces in the Kyiv residential area of Bucha in March.As well as her long jail sentence, the court banned Belotserkovskaya from running websites for a five-year duration after her release.
As Belotserkovskaya was tried in absentia and lives in France, she is not likely to have to serve her sentence.Russia passed a law in March criminalizing the sharing of information about the special military operation in Ukraine that varied from the Kremlins story, and penalizing those found guilty of doing so with sentences of up to 15 years.
Belotserkovskaya has actually already had properties she owns in Russia worth $2.1 million taken by court order, was contributed to the Russian governments desired list and stated a foreign agent, a label that brings stringent financial and legal restrictions.