Russia jailed two men on charges linked to Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine on Thursday, pursuing a sweeping crackdown on dissent since the launch of full-scale hostilities last year.
An entrepreneur known for his pro-Ukraine stance received a one-and-a-half-year sentence for "discrediting" the army, while another man was given six years for treason.
Dmitry Skurikhin, the entrepreneur and activist, was known for covering his store front in the northern village of Russko-Vysotskoye with messages including "peace for Ukraine, freedom to Russia".
On Thursday, a court in Saint Petersburg said Skurikhin, 48, had been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Authorities last September launched a probe against the father of five over his anti-war posters.
A second investigation against him was launched after he knelt in front of his store in February holding a sign that read "Sorry Ukraine" to mark the conflict's first anniversary.
Last year he was also fined for posting a video clip on social media in which he called for an end to Moscow's campaign.
Skurikhin's lawyer Dmitry Gerasimov said the activist had spent two months in pre-trial detention before being placed under house arrest.
Speaking to AFP, Gerasimov said that the entrepreneur was "very courageous" in court.
"He did not think he would be jailed," Gerasimov said. "But he also said, 'I couldn't not do it'," he said, referring to the protest.
Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, 2022, public criticism of Moscow's assault has been outlawed.
In another case on Thursday, a court in the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine sentenced a 19-year-old to six years in prison in a treason case, an official statement said.
Danila Berdyugin, from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, was found guilty of preparing to "illegally" cross the border and commit treason, the statement said.
An unprecedented crackdown on independent and critical voices in Russia has intensified after the start of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.
Putin has defended the arrests at a time of "armed conflict" with Ukraine, urging everyone to follow "certain rules".