A Moscow court has upheld a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence for a pediatrician found guilty of disseminating “false information” regarding the military, as reported by Russian media on Monday.

Nadezhda Buyanova, 69, was sentenced in November after the spouse of a soldier who lost his life in Ukraine accused her of speaking out against the war during a medical appointment. The woman claimed that Buyanova labeled her deceased husband a “legitimate target for Ukraine” and asserted that Russia was “to blame.”

Despite filing an appeal, Buyanova’s case was upheld by the Moscow City Court, which confirmed both her prison sentence and a restriction preventing her from practicing medicine or sharing content online, according to the Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti.

The appeal session took place behind closed doors.

Approximately 20 individuals gathered outside the Moscow City Court on Monday to express their solidarity with Buyanova, as reported by the exiled news organization Mediazona. Buyanova attended the hearing via video link from the pretrial detention facility where she is currently held.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have imposed fines and prison sentences on numerous individuals for spreading “falsehoods” about the military, effectively criminalizing dissent against the war.