A court in Moscow has sentenced the Oscar-nominated film producer Alexander Rodnyanskyj to eight and a half years in prison. He was convicted in absentia for spreading "false information" about the Russian army.
Rodnyanskyj, 63, was born in Kyiv but has spent most of his career in Russia, where he has produced a large number of TV series and films, including the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning "Leviathan". Shortly after Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, he left Russia and has since publicly criticized Russia's war.
Rodnyanskyj denies all charges from the Russian court. In a post on Telegram, he writes that no one can stop him from speaking out loud or from producing his films as he always has. Among these is "Loveless", which received the jury's special prize at the Cannes Festival in 2017.
