Usman Baratov, head of the interregional Uzbek community "Vatandosh," has been sentenced by a Moscow region court to four years in a general regime penal colony for inciting hatred and enmity, SOTAvision has reported.

Baratov, who denied the charges, reportedly expressed his discontent with the legal proceedings, stating that "the court is a servant, not a separate branch of power." 

His lawyer, Oksana Olgerdt, participated in the hearing via videoconference but complained about the poor quality of the connection, which prevented her from hearing the judge announce the verdict.

The charges against Baratov stem from a post he published on the social media platform Odnoklassniki in December 2023. The post, which discussed a sharp rise in the price of chicken eggs, featured a photo of an unattractive hen with a caption saying, "No bloody eggs for you! Bring back the roosters from the front line!" 

Russian pro-Kremlin bloggers interpreted the image as a derogatory reference to the wives of mobilised soldiers involved in the ongoing military operations in Ukraine. The collective complaint filed by these bloggers led to Baratov's arrest. 

He has been held in pre-trial detention since January and was added to Russia's list of "terrorists and extremists" in February.

In response to the charges, Baratov maintained that the satirical photo of chickens was unrelated to participants in the conflict in Ukraine.

The case has drawn political attention, with State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy calling for stricter measures against national communities and diasporas, demanding that they be treated as organised criminal structures and advocating for an end to "interethnic liberalism" and the "liquidation of such associations."