The sentence was three and a half years in prison, according to lawyer Viktor Anufriev. This is significantly lower than the 15 years that the prosecutor claimed. Dmitriyev is expected to be released later this year, as he has been imprisoned and has already served most of his sentence.

The EU has questioned the allegations against the historian and human rights organizations have since Dmitryev was arrested in 2016 for allegations of child pornography offenses demanded his release. A court acquitted him in 2018 but he was soon arrested again.

Mapped grave from the Stalin era

64-year-old Dmitriev discovered and mapped a tomb from the Stalin era with thousands of bodies in the forests of Sandarmokh in northwestern Russia. He denies the allegations and his supporters say that Dmitriev has become a target because his work has shown what happened under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

The Kremlin denies involvement in the case and the prosecutor says the case is based on evidence and not politics.