By RFE/RL's Russian Service

A court in Russia's Komi region on December 12 fined sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky 600,000 rubles ($6,660) on a charge of making online calls to justify terrorism and ordered his release from custody. The charge stemmed from Kagarlitsky's online comments in October 2022 on reports about an attack on the Kerch bridge built by Moscow after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014. The 65-year-old Kagarlitsky told RFE/RL earlier that he considered the charge against him politically motivated. In recent months, scores of Russian citizens have been charged with extremism and terrorism for expressing their thoughts about Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.