Opposition figure’s sentence underlines Russian intolerance

By The Associated Press

The 25-year treason sentence imposed on prominent Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday was a particularly severe show of authorities’ intensifying intolerance of criticism of the war in Ukraine and other dissenting opinions. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia for years has been closing in on those who challenge the Kremlin, arresting countless protesters, cracking down on independent news media and adding inconvenient organizations to its register of “foreign agents.” The hostility to opposition increased within days of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, adopting a law criminalizing spreading “false information” about its military.