A Moscow court on Monday sentenced dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison after convicting him of several charges, including "high treason", in the context of the repression practiced in Russia since the start of the invasion of Ukraine .

Kara-Murza, who was close to the prominent dissident Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015, was one of the last Kremlin critics who were not imprisoned or exiled abroad.

After a closed-door trial, the court announced that it had convicted Kara-Murza of "high treason", spreading "false information" about the Russian army and illegal work for an "unwanted" organisation, according to an AFP journalist.

As a result, he was sentenced to 25 years in a prison complex whose regime is harsh.

Russian news agencies quoted his lawyer, Maria Eismont, as saying that Kara-Murza will appeal the verdict, denouncing "gross violations of procedure" during the trial.