A Russian court has sentenced journalist Michael Nacke and war analyst Ruslan Leviev of the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) to 11 years in a penal colony for spreading “false information” about the Russian army. The charges against them focus on their joint YouTube broadcasts covering civilian casualties in Mariupol and the dangers of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, currently controlled by Russian troops. The verdict was reported by the Ostorozhno Novosti Telegram channel.
According to the channel’s reporter who attended the hearing, the judicial inquiry took less than an hour. The prosecution moved on to demanding jail time in just a day: 13 years in a penal colony for both Nacke and Leviev and a ban on internet content publication for five years.
Both Nacke and Leviev are living outside Russia.