
Russia's top lawmaker on Wednesday backed a proposal by the founder of the Wagner mercenary group fighting in Ukraine to make it a criminal offence to publicly criticise Wagner fighters or publish negative reports about them.
Yevgeny Prigozhin made the request in a letter to Vyacheslav Volodin, the hawkish chairman of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, saying he wanted jail terms of up to five years for anyone who discredited his men.