Lyudmila Vasilyeva, 84, survived the Siege of Leningrad in World War II as a child. Now, the Russian pensioner faces prosecution for calling for peace in Ukraine and says she feels "hurt" over what her country has become.

Like thousands since Russia launched its military offensive in February 2022, she has been charged with "discrediting" the armed forces and is due in court on Friday.

"Bitterness. That's what I feel. I'm unbearably hurt, unbearably hurt for the country," she told AFP in an interview in her Saint Petersburg apartment.

Dressed in a burgundy cardigan with patterned trim, she displayed the object at the centre of her legal troubles -- a handwritten placard with a simple message.

"People, let's stop the war. We are responsible for peace on the planet Earth. With love, Lyudmila Vasilyeva, child of the Leningrad blockade."

In March she had stood on the street holding it in front of her.

More than three years into Russia's offensive on Ukraine and an escalating domestic crackdown, such an act was enough for prosecutors to bring charges against Vasilyeva.

She faces a........

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