Maksym Kats was sentenced in absentia to 8 years in prison in the case of “fakes”

A court in Moscow sentenced oppositionist Maksym Kats in absentia to 8 years in prison in the case of spreading so-called fakes about the Russian army. This was reported by the correspondent of “Mediazona” from the courtroom.

The day before, the state prosecution requested that he be sentenced to 10 years in prison and banned from administering websites for 5 years.

The criminal case is related to the video published by Kats on April 3 last year about the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. In the video – one of the first about the events in Bucha, where hundreds of residents died during the Russian occupation – the responsibility for the murders is placed on the Russian servicemen. Katz, who is abroad, did not deny that he published this video, but did not admit guilt.

Katz’s lawyer said in court that the Russian Ministry of Defense published its version of the events in Buche after the opposition posted the video. The defender also cited excerpts from the reports of international commissions on the actions of Russian soldiers in Buche.

Maksym Kats, the owner of a popular YouTube channel, was previously arrested in absentia by a Russian court. He lives abroad.

• Russian courts have already handed down dozens of verdicts in cases of so-called fakes about the army, including in absentia – Alexander Nevzorov, Ilya Krasilshchik, Dmitry Glukhovsky. Politician Ilya Yashin received the maximum term – eight and a half years in prison. As a rule, the verdicts were handed down precisely in connection with statements about the murders in Buche or Mariupol. There are no acquittals based on this article.