A 60-year-old Russian retiree was given a two-year suspended sentence after being found guilty of desecrating the grave of President Vladimir Putin’s parents when she left a note at the burial site that said they had “brought up a monster and a murderer”.

The court on Thursday found Irina Tsybaneva from St Petersburg guilty of desecrating the Putins’ burial place motivated by political hatred.

The retiree said she was motivated by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Prosecutors had sought a three-year suspended sentence for Tsybaneva, who in October was charged with desecrating the Putin family plot in St Petersburg with a note referring to Putin’s deceased mother and father as “parents of this maniac”, independent news sites reported.

“Death to Putin, you brought up a monster and a murderer,” the note said, urging the deceased parents to “take him with you, he’s causing so much pain and trouble”, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe.

“The whole world is praying he would die,” the note said.

Tsybaneva’s lawyer said she did not plead guilty because she had not desecrated the grave physically or sought publicity for her action.

The retiree – who was initially placed under house arrest and prevented from going online and banned from visiting the Serafimovskoe Cemetery in St Petersburg – does not plan to appeal the verdict.

Tsybaneva told the court she wrote the note after she watched the news about the war in Ukraine, news outlets reported. (Al Jazeera)

•Irina Tsybaneva, 60, stands in a courtroom in St Petersburg, Russia, on May 11, 2023 [Dmitri Lovetsky/AP]

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