Two Russians heavily condemned for a poem hostile to the offensive in Ukraine

In Russia, the campaign of repression against dissident voices continues. On Thursday, December 28, a Moscow court sentenced two Russian poets to sentences ranging from five and a half to seven years in prison. Artiom Kamardine and Iegor Shtovba were arrested in September 2022 after participating in a public reading in Moscow, on Triumfalnaya Square, a meeting point for dissidents since the Soviet period.

First prosecuted for “incitement to hatred”, they were also charged with “public calls to commit activities against the security of the State”. In his final speech, posted on Telegram by his supporters, Artiom Kamardine implored the judge to let him “go home”. He had promised in return to keep his distance from everything “sensitive subject”.

“I’m not a hero and going to jail for what I think was never part of my plan.”

Artiom Kamardine, Russian poet

in court

Artiom Kamardine was arrested the day after the public reading, during which he recited a poem entitled Kill me, militiaman !, very hostile to the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The poet’s girlfriend and his roommate, present at the time of his arrest, told franceinfo that they had heard the 31-year-old man being beaten and raped by the police.