Brittney Griner Lands in U.S. After Prisoner Swap:

The return of the American basketball star to her home country has ended a 10-month trial in which she has become the trump card between Moscow and Washington.

MOSCOW — A Russian court on Friday convicted opposition politician Ilya Yashin of “spreading false information” about atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Bucha in February and March. He was due to be sentenced on Friday afternoon.

Mr. Yashin, who has pleaded not guilty, is one of the most prominent opposition politicians left in Russia. Before his July arrest, he talked about the war on his YouTube channel, often criticizing President Vladimir Putin and his "extraordinary military operations". While many Putin critics fled Russia, especially immediately after the invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Yasin has vowed to stay, even if he ends up in prison.

Prosecutor Sergei Belov told Moscow's Meshchansky District Court that Yashin spoke "indiscriminately" about Russian media coverage of the war, citing instead media news from "an unfriendly country: the United States and its satellites." "Supplies Ukraine with instructors and weapons."

The sentence of Mr. Yashin, who served in Moscow's Krasnoselsky district, is the latest example of the Kremlin's widespread efforts to silence any criticism, particularly the invasion of Ukraine.

In July, Alexey Gorinov, a member of the Krasnoselsk Soviet, was sentenced to seven years in prison for knowingly disseminating false information about the Russian military. Mr. Gorinov was criticized for remarks at a provincial council meeting in March that suggested postponing a planned children's drawing contest while Ukrainian children died.

In court on Friday, Mr. Yashin stood handcuffed inside a glass cage, waving to supporters and giving peace signs, witnesses said.

In his closing remarks on Monday, Mr. Yashin said he did not regret what he said about the violence in his subpar.

“When the war started, I didn't doubt for a minute what I was supposed to do,” he said. "I must be in Russia, I must speak the truth, and I must do everything I can to prevent bloodshed." "I'd rather spend 10 years in prison as an honest man than silently burn with shame for the blood spilled by the government," he added.

The verdict follows Wednesday's decision to declare Viasna, an anti-war movement against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "extremist" in a closed-door meeting.

Vesna was one of the organizations calling for protests after the outbreak of war in February and again in September after Putin announced the recruitment of hundreds of thousands of troops.

At least 19,335 people have been detained for anti-war protests since February 24, according to OVD-Info, a Russian human rights group that monitors police activity.