A Russian historian who has spent much of his life unearthing Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s crimes has been jailed in a controversial sexual abuse case.

Yury Dmitriyev was sentenced to three and a half years for abusing his fostered daughter.

He denies the accusations and his colleagues say he was framed in a plot to discredit his work.

The government of President Vladimir Putin has sought to downplay the extent of Stalin-era violence.

Dmitriyev, who has uncovered execution sites from the Great Terror in the 1930s, is expected to be freed later this year due to time already served.

His supporters received the verdict with relief and applause as he was given a much shorter prison term than the 15 years requested by the prosecution, BBC Russian’s Oleg Boldyrev reports from Petrozavodsk.