Read the Final Statement of Yabloko Deputy Chair Maxim Kruglov. Today He Received...

Read the final statement of Yabloko deputy chair Maxim Kruglov. Today he received 7 years in a penal colony in the case over military “fakes”

“My motivation throughout all my professional work as a politician was love for my country. I proceeded from the idea that Russia should be a peaceful country, a democratic country, one where human life is valued. Together with my comrades, I did everything in my power so that the image of what we desired could be achieved. And here I am.

We have come to the point where the investigation postulates: long-term disagreement means hostility and political hatred. The category of disagreement is being placed outside the bounds of the law.

This, combined with the request for eight years, looks not only absurd, including from the point of view of current law. From the point of view of its future significance for the country, this is very serious. It is a ban on a moral position, on dissent.

The Gospel phrase says: ‘If a kingdom is divided against itself, it will not stand.’ The unity of the kingdom is undermined by the fight against dissenters.

Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death, commuted to indefinite hard labor, in the case of the Petrashevsky circle. Later the situation changed. One can also recall Andrei Sakharov.

I am saying this for the future. When and if our political movement comes to power, we will need to treat our opponents respectfully, to understand that they too are part of Russia. One part of Russia must not wage war against another.”

▶️ What Maxim Kruglov was convicted for

The criminal case against the politician — from 2019 to 2024 he was a deputy of the Moscow City Duma — was opened because of two social media posts made in 2022. In one of the posts, Kruglov shared the number of civilian deaths, citing UN data; Russia is also a member of the UN. In the second, the politician wrote about the events in Bucha, calling what happened “some kind of hell”.

According to the investigation, Kruglov’s posts were driven by “political hatred”. The politician himself insisted that this motive “is not proven by anything” — his statements were part of public and political debate, while the criminal prosecution effectively punishes disagreement with the authorities’ official position.

Since October 2025, the politician had been held in a pretrial detention center. The prosecution requested eight years of imprisonment for him.

❗️ The Russian authorities have declared OVD-Info an extremist organization and banned our activity because they do not want you to know about repression. Publicly sharing our materials is now unsafe. But you can still read us! Subscribe to OVD-Info, to know how to protect yourself.

Maxim Kruglov in court / Video: “Ostorozhno, Novosti”