In Russia, activist groups are reporting that an Orthodox priest who gave an anti-war sermon on Sunday has been arrested and found guilty of breaching a new law censoring criticism of the war in Ukraine.

The priest from the Kostroma region has to pay 35,000 ₽ for his preaching.

BBC Russia journalist Andrey Zakharov reported that Father Ioann Burdin was detained shortly after he made a sermon to a small congregation in the village of Karabanovo.

He’d preached against the war, described to locals the ongoing shelling and destruction in Ukrainian cities, and also shared anti-war images and a petition on the parish’s website.

Police charged him with ‘discrediting the use of the Armed Forces’ -a criminal offence established by Russia’s state duma just last week.

Since the start of the war, there’s been a brutal crackdown on protest activities in Russia, where despite the risks thousands of people are still taking to the streets in dozens of cities to protest.

More than 13,000 people have been arrested so far, including over 4,600 on Sunday, local NGO trackers say.