MOSCOW (Reuters) – Oleg Orlov, a veteran Russian human rights activist serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for speaking out against the war in Ukraine, told a court hearing on Thursday that he stood by his condemnation of “massive” repression” in Russia.

Orlov, the 71-year-old co-chairman of the rights group Memorial, was found guilty in February of discrediting the Russian army after he protested the war and wrote an article accusing President Vladimir Putin of leading the country into fascism.

“I have no regrets or remorse. I am in the right place at the right time,” he told the packed courtroom in Moscow, speaking via video link from a detention center some 750 km (470 miles) away.

“When there is mass oppression in the country, I am there with those who are persecuted, and in this way I help…” Orlov continued, before the sound was cut from his video.

Orlov’s supporters have expressed concern about his state of health, and his defense team has filed complaints that say the conditions of his detention and transport amount to cruel and degrading treatment.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)