Moscow, Nov 8 (AP) Russian authorities are seeking a six-year prison term for a pediatrician accused of criticising the war in Ukraine in front of one of her patients and his mother, Russian independent news site Mediazona reported on Friday.

The case against Dr. Nadezhda Buyanova, 68, is one of hundreds launched against Russians after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on opposition activists, independent journalists and ordinary people.

Also Read | Russian President Vladimir Putin Heaps Praises on PM Narendra Modi, Says 'High Time India Is Included Among Great Powers of the World'.

Buyanova was arrested in February. The mother of one of her patients reported her to the authorities, alleging that the pediatrician told her son that his father, a Russian soldier killed in Ukraine, was a legitimate target for Kyiv's troops, and blamed Russia for the war.

The pediatrician was charged with spreading false information about the army, a criminal offense under a law that was adopted shortly after the invasion and widely used to target critics and protesters. She has rejected the charges and insisted that she never said those things.

Also Read | What Is 4B Movement? Why Is It Going Viral in US After Donald Trump’s Win? All About the ‘4 Nos’ Including ‘No Sex With Men’ Rule As American Women Engage in South Korean-Inspired Trend.

Buyanova's defence argued that the prosecution failed to present evidence that the purported conversation took place and alleged that the woman who reported the doctor, who was born in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, fabricated the story out of animosity towards Ukrainians, according to Mediazona.

In her closing statement to the court, Buyanova said that it was “painful” to read the accusations in the indictment, and broke into tears.

According to OVD-Info, one of Russia's leading rights groups that tracks political arrests, more than 1,000 people have been implicated in criminal cases on charges related to speaking or acting out against the war in Ukraine. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)