It was the first court sentence in years under tough new laws introduced by Russia in the early days of the invasion.

The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of World War II survivors have been thrown into the fire of these combat operations.

[5][6] On 26 April 2022, law enforcement officials arrested Gorinov and searched his home and the council building.

The prosecution claimed that Gorinov colluded with Kotyonochkina at the council meeting in order to “discredit” Russian soldiers.

On 8 July 2022, judge Olesya Mendeleeva of the Meshchansky court sentenced Gorinov to seven years of imprisonment in a general-regime corrective colony.

[9] During the court hearing, Gorinov openly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “I believe that in the 20th century, Russia went beyond its limit on wars.

This happened because of the changed wording in the accusation against the deputy: the version that a “group of people” (namely, Gorinov and Kotenochkina) “acted in collusion”.

[10] In his final statement, Gorinov admitted his guilt before the people of Ukraine for not being able to prevent the war and said that the possibility of instituting criminal proceedings for pacifist views “brings shame to Russia”.

On November 29, 2024, Alexei Gorinov was sentenced to three additional years in prison, on charges of "advocating terrorism".

[13] Bruce Millar, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director, believes that the sentence is “an unlawful reprisal for expressing his views”, and Gorinov “did not commit any internationally recognised crime by calling the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin on Ukraine what it is, a criminal war”.

[14] Human rights defender Marina Litvinovich says that Gorinov's sentence is meant to make an example and intimidate deputies and other civil servants so no people in power would dare to speak out against the war.

Gorinov himself believes the court's sentence cannot be compared with the damage Russia caused to Ukraine: “An unimaginably long time?

[19] In early 2023, 34 members of the European Parliament (including representatives of Lithuania) signed an open letter supporting Gorinov.

[21] On 20 and 21 January, more than 20 countries saw rallies in support of political prisoners in Russia, including Alexei Gorinov.

[22] In February 2023, the UN, in response to a complaint submitted by human rights defenders, called for Alexei Gorinov to be immediately released and demanded that the Russian authorities conduct an independent investigation.