Prominent Russian nationalist ex-militia commander Igor Girkin, who accuses President Vladimir Putin and the army brass of failure in the war in Ukraine, has been convicted by a Moscow court of inciting extremism and jailed for four years.
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Girkin, who denied the charge, had publicly entertained ideas about running against Putin in a March presidential election, saying he could do a better job than Russia's veteran leader.
In the summer of 2023, Girkin was arrested for allegedly calling for terrorist actions.
Standing in a glass courtroom cage as he listened to the verdict, Girkin, 53, who used the nom de guerre Igor Strelkov (shooter) during fighting in east Ukraine a decade ago, nodded and rolled his eyes as the presiding judge declared he had been found guilty and would spend four years in a penal colony.
The judge also banned Girkin, once a prolific blogger, from using the internet for three years.
Girkin's official channel on the Telegram messaging app, which is maintained by allies, said he did not recognise the verdict and had pronounced the words: "I serve the Fatherland!"
His case has been closely watched as an indication of how far the Kremlin will tolerate criticism of its war effort in Ukraine, which it calls a "special military operation".
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said Girkin's punishment was a lesson for people styling themselves as patriots: "Of course, branding and insulting the leader of a country that is fighting against the aggression of a huge global coalition is not patriotism," Markov wrote on Telegram.
Girkin's legal team called the verdict illegal and unfair, and said it planned to appeal.
Miroslava Reginskaya, his wife, told a crowd outside the courtroom that she considered her husband a political prisoner, before encouraging those listening to repeat after her the chant: "Freedom for Strelkov!"
"The charge against him is absolutely absurd," she said.
"My husband is a patriot of his country. There are no words which are not swear words to express what the authorities are doing right now."
One supporter outside the court who did not give his name said Girkin had committed no crime.
"Someone needed to lock him up, so they did, they followed orders, that's all," said the man.
Girkin was remanded in custody last July after setting up the "Club of Angry Patriots" to save Russia from what he said was the danger of systemic turmoil because of military failures.
In a post on July 18 on his official Telegram channel, followed by more than 760,000 people, Girkin peppered Putin with personal insults and urged him to pass power "to someone truly capable and responsible".
A former officer for Russia's FSB security service, Girkin helped Russia annex the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, before organising and commanding pro-Russian militias who wrested part of eastern Ukraine out of Kyiv officials' control.
He was handed a life sentence in absentia by a Dutch court in 2022 for murder in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 passengers and crew.
He denied wrongdoing at the time.
with DPA and AP
Australian Associated Press
