I have been sentenced to jail just for telling the truth about Russia

I’M from Russia but I now live in Europe and can’t go back to Russia. That’s because a few weeks ago a Russian court sentenced me to eight and a half years in prison for talking on Instagram, Twitter and in interviews about the war crimes in Ukraine the Russian army has committed, in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and Kherson.

- Dmitry Glukhousky

I was charged under a new law, “on the dissemination of knowingly spreading false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” And yes, they will arrest me and put me away the moment I show up in Russia or any country “friendly to Russia”, but the point is not in taking revenge on me but in making an example of me.

When Russia attacked Ukraine, thousands of Russian actors protested. Entire theatres protested, the directors, screenwriters and designers guilds protested. A year and a half has passed now, and nearly all of them have fallen silent. They’ve fallen silent because the Kremlin has been able to find a way to get at them.