The Russian parliament's lower chamber has approved a bill expanding Russia's wartime censorship measures to include punishment for anyone considered to have discredited "volunteer" forces such as so-called private military groups involved in Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The bill increases the maximum prison term for those who are found to have repeatedly discredited Russian forces in Ukraine from three years to five years, while the punishment for discrediting actions that lead to death or mass disorder rises from five years to seven years in prison. Authorities have used the laws to hand down lengthy jail sentences to longtime Kremlin critics.
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