Comedian jailed in Russia over joke about legless veteran, sparks nationalist backlash
A Russian stand-up comedian, Artemy Ostanin, was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison and fined 300,000 rubles for inciting hatred over a joke about a legless war veteran, an offense that drew outrage from nationalists and military bloggers; he was also convicted of insulting Christians with another joke about Jesus. He denied wrongdoing, saying the veteran joke did not reference Ukraine, as Russia tightens censorship of remarks about the war and the army.
