Masha Gessen is accused of spreading false information about the Russian military’s killing of civilians in Ukraine MOSCOW: A Russian-American journalist who has accused the Russian army of carrying out crimes in Ukraine was sentenced in absentia to eight years jail by a Moscow court on Monday. Masha Gessen, a regular contributor to the New Yorker, was declared wanted in Russia last year after alleging its military killed civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha in March 2022, an accusation the Kremlin denies. The court sentenced Gessen to eight years jail for “knowingly spreading false information about the use of the Russian army,” according to a statement from the Moscow city court service. Shortly after launching its offensive in Ukraine, Russia made independent reporting on the conflict illegal and outlawed criticism of its armed forces. Gessen, who now lives in the United States, is a prominent LGBTQ activist and long-time critic of President Vladimir Putin, penning a scathing biography of the Russian leader in 2012. A Moscow court also on Monday sentenced a former municipal deputy to seven and a half years in absentia for allegedly spreading “fakes” about the Russian army. Elena Kotenochkina, who has fled Russia, was convicted after speaking out in defense of fellow deputy Alexei Gorinov, jailed for seven years after proposing a minute’s silence for the victims of the conflict in Ukraine during a council meeting.