Charged with Deliberately Spreading Lies about the Russian Army,

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The deputy leader of Russia's liberal Yabloko party, which opposes the war in Ukraine, has been charged with deliberately spreading lies about the Russian army, state investigators said on Thursday. Maxim Kruglov says he is not guilty of the charge, which can carry a jail term of up to 10 years, investigators said. A Moscow court will consider their request to place him in detention later on Thursday, a day after his arrest.

Natalya Tikhonova, a lawyer representing Kruglov, said via Yabloko that her client had been charged over the content of two posts he had made on the Telegram social media network in 2022 and that his home had been searched.

State investigators said the posts included false information about the Russian army's purported actions against Ukrainian civilians.

Yabloko, which has only a handful of seats in regional parliaments and no seats in the national parliament, condemned President Vladimir Putin's decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and appealed to him to reverse course.

Russian politician who called for Ukraine ceasefire is charged with spreading lies about the army

Maxim Kruglov, newly elected member of Moscow city parliament, also known as Moscow City Duma, delivers a speech during the first session in Moscow, Russia September 17, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov© Thomson Reuters