Russian authorities sentenced opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov, leader of a far-left party, to six years in prison for allegedly “justifying terrorism,” local media reported on Thursday (December 25, 2025).
According to the Russian news agency Interfax, Udaltsov, who has been in custody since January 2024, announced that he would appeal the verdict and go on hunger strike.
“Udaltsov was sentenced to six years in prison,” the judge said, according to the same agency. The 48-year-old politician will serve his sentence in a maximum security prison.
The public prosecutor’s office had requested a seven-year prison sentence, the defense argued for an acquittal.
The exact allegations in Udaltsov’s case are confidential, but he himself said in a preview that he is accused of expressing online support for Marxist activists who are accused of organizing a “terrorist” group in the central Russian city of Ufa.
Udaltsov was among the opposition leaders who spoke out during mass protests against President Vladimir Putin’s re-election in 2012. He was jailed in 2014 for organizing “mass riots” and subsequently spent three years in prison.
However, the politician has publicly expressed his support for Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, saying he opposes Russian President Vladimir Putin from a “patriotic point of view.”
Moscow has stepped up its repression of the opposition and freedom of expression since its offensive in Ukraine began in 2022, regularly accusing anyone it deems not toeing the official line of this crime.
gs (afp, dpa)
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