Russian Mother of two in trouble for calling on Putin’s assassination

Anastasia Berezhinskaya, a Moscow-based theater director and mother of two, was sentenced to eight years in a Russian penal colony after posting scathing anti-war messages online, some calling for the assassination of President Vladimir Putin.

Her posts, condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide,” allegedly crossed the Kremlin’s red lines on wartime censorship, leading to charges of “discrediting” the Russian military and “justifying terrorism.”

Her case, one of more than a thousand criminal prosecutions against Russians who’ve criticized the war, is a harsh example of Moscow’s crackdown on dissent.

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Since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022, laws have tightened to punish anyone challenging the Kremlin’s official narrative, with over 20,000 Russians detained for anti-war protests.

Berezhinskaya’s defiance on May 14, 2022, went viral as she posted dozens of anti-war comments in a single day, lambasting Putin for the civilian casualties seen across Ukraine and the widespread devastation.

With Putin on track to become Russia’s longest-serving leader since Catherine the Great, Berezhinskaya’s conviction demonstrates the rising risks for those who choose to openly defy the state in what it continues to call a “special military operation.”