INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian prosecutors on Wednesday requested an eight-year prison sentence for artist Alexandra Skochilenko, who was arrested last year for an
anti-war protest in which she replaced supermarket price tags with information about civilian deaths in Ukraine.The 33-year-old artist and
Petersburg supermarket with statements criticizing Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and highlighting civilian deaths in the conflict."The
prosecution has asked for eight years," the independent Mediazona news website reported Wednesday, citing a journalist in the courtroom in
Petersburg.The criminal offense, which carries a maximum term of 10 years behind bars, was introduced after Moscow invaded Ukraine last year
as saying."The aim of the special military operation was to protect the citizens of Donbas from aggression," the prosecutor added, using the
Kremlin's preferred term for its February 2022 invasion.Skochilenko has been on trial despite a number of health conditions, including
celiac disease and a congenital heart defect.On Wednesday, the artist and her lawyers spoke of the poor conditions she had been held in
