US lawmakers urge release of Russia critic Kara-Murza on the anniversary of his imprisonment

By FARNOUSH AMIRI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress on Tuesday are calling for the immediate release of Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. The renewed calls from lawmakers have come on the second anniversary of his imprisonment, part of the Kremlin’s relentless crackdown on critics of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza, a journalist and an opposition activist, was jailed in April 2022 and convicted of treason last year for denouncing the war in Ukraine. He is serving 25 years, the stiffest sentence for a Kremlin critic in modern Russia, and is among a growing number of dissidents held in increasingly severe conditions under President Vladimir Putin’s political crackdown.