The 39-year-old, one of the leaders of the People's Freedom Party and the opposition Solidarity movement, was charged with "due to political hatred" having spread "false information" about the Russian military.
The authorities opened the criminal investigation against Yashin after he called the killing of civilians by Russian forces in Butja a massacre on his YouTube channel.
Ilya Yashin has been one of the main opposition leaders in Russia since the mass protests against President Vladimir Putin in 2011–2012.
Until his arrest, he was one of the last opposition politicians and Putin critics who, since the start of the war, had neither left Russia nor been imprisoned.
- Don't be afraid of these villains!
Russia will be free, he shouted in court during the detention hearing in July.
Navalny condemns
Regime critic Alexei Navalny, who has been imprisoned in a high-security prison in Russia since February 2021, condemns the "shameless and illegal" sentence against Yashin.
"This is one more reason why we have to fight and I have no doubt that we will win in the end," writes the team that manages Navalny's social media.