On November 12, 2026, the Pskov Regional Court rejected the appeal filed by Lev Shlosberg, deputy chairman of the Yabloko party, and upheld the sentence issued in August 2026: 11 years and one month of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. This was reported by Mediazona. The case was considered based on two episodes — repeated "discrediting" of the Russian Armed Forces and the dissemination of "fakes" about the army. At the time of the appeal, Shlosberg was being held in a pre-trial detention center.
Nine hours of debate: an attempt to challenge the verdict
The appeal hearings lasted two days. On both days, Shlosberg delivered speeches that totaled nine hours. The politician devoted the main part of his presentation to listing the procedural violations that, in his assessment, the judge of the first instance had committed when issuing the verdict. Despite the voluminous arguments of the defense and the personal statements of the defendant, the court of appeal kept the punishment at the previous level. The verdict has entered into legal force.
"Remain human": the defendant's final statement
In his final statement, Shlosberg departed from legal argumentation and addressed philosophical themes — about the purpose of man, about the conscious choice between good and evil, and about how the personal decisions of dozens of people shape the destinies of others. "In order to remain a human being, one does not need to perform feats. It is enough not to create evil, not to participate in evil, not to commit unnatural acts," he declared. Shlosberg concluded his speech by appealing to those around him: "I have a dream. I want to see our country become a country of people who have gone through all the trials of the twilight time and remained human. I know this is possible. Remain human."
Background of the case: from a post on Odnoklassniki to a repost from the Daily Mirror
The original verdict was issued in August 2026. Regarding the "discrediting" of the army episode, the basis for the case was a recording of a debate uploaded by Shlosberg on the Odnoklassniki social network, in which he publicly defended the need for an immediate cessation of Russia's hostilities against Ukraine. The second episode — "fakes" about the armed forces — was initiated due to a repost in his Telegram channel of an Ekho Moskvy publication, which featured the front page of the British newspaper Daily Mirror with a photograph of an injured woman, an image of Vladimir Putin, and the headline "Her blood… His hands." Shlosberg himself pointed out that the repost was made before the federal law on so-called "fakes" about the army came into effect, but this argument did not affect the final decision of the court of first instance and was not taken into account by the appeal.
Context: political status and consequences
Lev Shlosberg is one of the most prominent public representatives of the Yabloko party and has been repeatedly held accountable for public statements criticizing the state's military policy. The upholding of the 11-year and one-month sentence means that, in the absence of a pardon or a review by higher courts, the politician will spend a significant part of his remaining time in places of imprisonment. The Pskov Regional Court's decision does not provide the possibility of a further appeal within the framework of criminal proceedings; the remaining mechanisms — cassation and oversight — have not been announced at the time of publication.
