Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina has pleaded guilty to treason charges after she was arrested for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.
Russian prosecutors are seeking a 15-year sentence after the security services accused Ms Karelina of collecting money that was used to purchase tactical supplies for the Ukrainian army.
She was detained by authorities in Yekaterinburg, about 1,600km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow after a family visit in February.
The sentence comes one week after Russia and the West carried out the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War, where 24 people jailed in seven different countries were exchanged.
Ms Karelina’s lawyer said the prosecutors’ request for a 15-year sentence in a penal colony was too severe as the defendant had cooperated with the investigation.
Mikhail Mushailov also said it was “impossible” for Ms Karelina to have been included in the recent prisoner exchange, because an exchange can only happen once the court verdict comes into force.
Ahh, finally! So this is where we are going here.
It is not even “Russia’s war”.
Who invaded, then? Who massacred settlements like Bucha? Who declared that Ukraine isn’t a state but a part of Russia?
Are you aware of how Crimea was made a part of Ukraine in 1995?
No, I am not. Because Crimea was already a part of Ukraine beforehand (1954/1992), acknowledged by Russia. But I wonder what your point is? Ukraine deserved this war?
Please let’s stay on track.
I won’t stop you exposing yourself.
It’s not like Putin woke up one morning and thought “I’m bored, I’m gonna invade Ukraine”.
That’s not an answer to my question. Who invaded?
Do you deny the fact that both sides committed (and continue to commit) war crimes?
Do you deny the extents of the crimes that happened in Butcha when attempting to “bothside” Ukraine and Russia here or do you actually think Ukraine has done equally horrible things?
It is debatable whether it was a “part of Ukraine” between the dissolution of the USSR and 1995.
From your source: In June 1992, the parties reached a compromise, that Crimea would have considerable autonomy but remain part of Ukraine.
I just found the phrase “Russia’s war” too simple.
Seeing how much difficulty you have to correctly name the country invading, I bet you do!
Let me ask: is it the German political landscape you are at home at or maybe even the Russian? Because even the putinophilic far-right nutjobs from the AfD only excuse Russia’s invasion (as does the equally putinophilic and equally populistic self-declared “left” poster girl Sarah W), but denying it is new. In which rabbit hole do I have to crawl to find these kind of positions?