At the beginning of last year, Russia mobilized its armed forces and invaded Ukraine. It was an event that shook the whole world and indirectly affected the video game industry and other entertainment sectors. Many people spoke out against the conflict, and now a well-known writer has received a legal sentence for criticizing the actions of the Russian government.
As highlighted by the media outlet The AP, Russian lawmakers approved a bill that prohibits the dissemination of "fake information" about the conflict with Ukraine. Individuals who violate this regulation could face penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
Shortly after the outbreak of the armed conflict, Dmitry Glukhovsky, the Russian novelist behind the book Metro 2033 and its respective sequels, strongly criticized the Russian invasion and stated that the "war in Ukraine unleashed by Putin is becoming more terrible and inhuman every day, and the pretexts under which it was started look more and more insignificant and false".
AUTHOR OF METRO 2033 SENTENCED TO 8 YEARS IN PRISON FOR CRITICIZING THE RUSSIAN ARMY
In the middle of last year, the writer took to social media to announce that the Russian government accused him of violating the new law by "discrediting the Russian armed forces through an Instagram post." At that time, he held his stance and called for an end to the war.
In response, the Russian Ministry of the Interior added Dmitry Glukhovsky to a federal list of wanted individuals and issued a search and arrest warrant against him. Earlier this week, over a year later, the Moscow Court sentenced the writer to 8 years in prison after declaring him guilty of spreading false information about the country's armed forces.
The novelist is not in Russia, so he was tried in absentia. It's worth noting that in October 2022, he was labeled a "foreign agent" for his comments against the Moscow Kremlin.
Metro 2033 is a post-apocalyptic novel that made its way into video games in 2010. Dmitry Glukhovsky collaborated closely with the Ukrainian studio 4A Games on the project, as well as on the sequels. Earlier this year, the developers confirmed that the new installment of the franchise will be influenced by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
"We’ve never hidden the fact that the Metro series has always carried a strong political and anti-war message. Yes, we’ve always wanted to entertain and immerse you in our post-apocalyptic world but there’s also been a bigger story to tell. And the war in Ukraine has made us re-think what kind of story the next Metro should be about", said 4A Games.
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