A Russian American Is Sentenced in Russia Over Social Media Posts

A court in Russia on Wednesday sentenced a Russian American national to three and a half years in a penal colony after he had criticized the country, its leadership and its war in Ukraine on social media.

Yuri Malev, 60, identified in court as a security guard at the MatchPoint sports complex in Brooklyn, was arrested in Russia last December. He was charged with “rehabilitating Nazism” over two social media posts that expressed “obvious disrespect for society” and “insulted the memory of World War II” and its veterans, the court said.

Mr. Malev, the court said, admitted guilt and was sentenced in an expedited proceeding.

While it is common for people who criticize the war and Russian officials to be prosecuted in the country, the sentence against Mr. Malev, a first-time offender, was unusually harsh, his lawyer and a relative said.

Mr. Malev joins a list of American nationals currently in Russian custody, including Evan Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal; Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine; and Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The detentions of American nationals in Russia in recent years have raised fears that the Kremlin is seeking to use U.S. citizens as bargaining chips to be exchanged for Russian individuals held in the West.

According to his lawyer, Ruslan N. Aidamirov, Mr. Malev had been expected to get a much more lenient sentence, and he said that Mr. Malev was very “depressed” by the court’s decision.