Yekaterinburg (Russia) (AFP) - Yevgeny Roizman, a prominent Kremlin critic and popular former mayor, went on trial on Wednesday over accusations of discrediting the Russian army over the Ukraine offensive.

Since sending troops to Ukraine in February last year, Russia has intensified its crackdown on domestic critics, with almost all of the Kremlin’s major opponents in exile or behind bars and top rights groups shut down.

Roizman is Russia’s last prominent opposition figure who is still in the country and not behind bars.

He faces up to five years in prison.

In 2013, Roizman, 60, became Russia’s highest-profile opposition mayor and held the position in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg for five years.

He is a hugely popular figure in Yekaterinburg and beyond and a friend of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

He had until recently remained largely untouchable but in August 2022, authorities opened a criminal probe against Roizman who stands accused of “discrediting” the Russian army in comments about Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine.

Dressed in blue jeans and a white T-shirt, Roizman pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial in Yekaterinburg, according to a live YouTube broadcast of the hearing.

Asked by the judge if he admitted his guilt, Roizman said “no”.

In the courtroom, the opposition politician sat next to lawyers and prosecutors in front of the judge.

- ‘No fear’ -

Roizman, who openly denounces President Vladimir Putin and his offensive in Ukraine, has said he knows he could go to prison at any moment.

“I have no illusions,” the tough-minded opposition politician told AFP in an interview last year.

“But I also have no fear.”

Roizman has a penchant for crude language and has peppered Twitter with swear words to mock officials, much to the delight of his supporters.

The Russian public has been reeling from a historic crackdown on dissent as Moscow presses ahead with its military intervention in Ukraine.

All top opposition figures are either in prison or in exile.

Tall and sporty, Roizman first shot to prominence as an anti-drugs activist fighting Russia’s severe narcotics epidemic.

When he served as mayor, he made himself accessible to his constituents, receiving the city’s neediest people to help them solve their problems.

He resigned after authorities moved to scrap mayoral elections, but he has been closely involved in his charity’s work.

Russia’s top opposition leader Navalny, who used to mobilise massive protests against Putin’s rule, is behind bars in what his supporters say is Moscow’s punishment for challenging the Kremlin.

The 46-year-old is serving a nine-year prison sentence on embezzlement and other charges.

His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh has said authorities are planning to stage a new major trial against him.

Last week, a Russian court sentenced another Kremlin critic, Vladimir Kara-Murza, to 25 years in a high security prison on treason and other charges for criticising the Ukraine assault.

It was the harshest sentence delivered against a Kremlin critic since the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.