Russian doctor jailed for 5.5 years on basis of public denunciation

Nadezhda Buyanova, a 68-year-old paediatrician denounced by a patient's mother for an alleged unpatriotic statement and accused of blaming Russia's armed forces for a military conflict against Ukraine, attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced a Moscow paediatrician to five and a half years in a penal colony, state news agency TASS said, after the mother of one of her patients publicly denounced her for comments she made about Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Prosecutors last week requested Nadezhda Buyanova, 68, be jailed for six years for spreading "fakes" about the Russian army.