Russian woman given suspended sentence for ‘insulting’ note on Putin’s parents’ grave

Case comes amid Kremlin’s growing crackdown on dissent over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

A Russian court has given a two-year suspended sentence to a St Petersburg woman who left a note on the grave of President Vladimir Putin’s parents saying they had “raised a freak and a killer”.

The court found Irina Tsybaneva, 60, guilty of desecrating burial places motivated by political hatred. Her lawyer said she didn’t plead guilty because she hadn’t desecrated the grave physically or sought publicity for her action.