A Russian court sentenced on Tuesday a woman to two years' jail for holding protest signs opposing President Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine conflict, the latest in a series of convictions targeting dissent.
Elena Abramova, a translator from the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, publicly held up placards in 2023 that read "A world without war, a Russia without Putin!" and "Freedom for Navalny! Freedom for all political prisoners", according to the city's court service.
Saint Petersburg's Kuibyshev District Court found her guilty of "discrediting the armed forces", a criminal offence often applied to critics of the Ukraine conflict, and sentenced her to two years' imprisonment.
Russian authorities have fined and sentenced thousands of dissidents since Moscow began its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, part of an unrelenting crackdown which rights groups have blamed on the Kremlin and security services.
Russian authorities have declared late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his movement "extremist", and anyone who mentions him without stating this label is subject to fines or up to four years in prison for repeat offences.