Alexei Gorinov‚ a 63-year old ex-council member got another prison term last fall; the court added 3 years to his existing sentence for chats with other inmates (which they called justifying terrorism)
In his first case about 2 years ago he got 7 years for telling truth at a council meeting: children were dying in Ukraine. Now hes one of the few known critics still in Russia after others left in a big prisoner trade last summer including Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin
The third year of victims and destruction on European territory unseen since World War Two‚ the deprivation and suffering of millions of people. We cannot remain silent about this
His health isnt good but he made a strong speech at trial. He talked about how Russiaʼs system got worse and asked Ukraineʼs people to forgive him as a Russian. The government doesnt comment on these cases but says its just following laws during war-time
People in Russia dont speak up much now - its too risky. Critics like Gorinov use court speeches to say whats on their mind; these words dont make it to state TV but show up on social-media and news sites outside Russia