By . Will Stewart In Moscow . Media tycoon Alexander Lebedev shovelled snow in a remote Russian village last week as part of his sentence for punching a fellow oligarch during a TV debate. The former KGB spy, owner of The Independent titles and the London Evening Standard, was ordered to clear snow at a nursery school in Maxim Gorky, close to a potato farm he owns 180 miles south of Moscow. He said he was 'enjoying' the work, which will amount to 150 hours of service. Hard at work: Owner of The Independent Alexander Lebedev cleared snow in front of a school . Punishment: The snow-shovelling follows a shift of digging and lifting to repair a playground in Maxim Gorky . Convenience: Lebedev changed his official residential address to the nearby village of Popovka, 177 miles south of Moscow, which meant he would serve his punishment close to his potato farm . The 53-year-old was spared jail despite a . conviction in July for dramatically striking billionaire Sergei . Polonsky during the 2011 television chat show. The trial was considered to be a political ‘show trial’ and linked to Lebedev’s ownership of a Russian investigative newspaper which spotlights corruption in Vladimir Putin’s government and entourage. Dressed in a designer jacket and gloves, . Lebedev, 53, cleared the first big snow of winter to allow children to . attend the school. Sentenced: Lebedev was sentenced to 150 hours of service for punching a fellow oligarch on TV . So far, the banker has learned to handle a chainsaw and fretsaw to mend playground apparatus - despite criticising his conviction and the penal system for failing to exploit his expertise. He said: ‘I object to the conviction in a legal sense so how can this be a meaningful punishment? Still, the law is the law and I show by doing what I am doing that I respect the law.’ He added: ‘It is a pity that such public works don’t use the most of what a person can do. ‘I would be glad to give some lectures, but no way, instead I must improve the environment and do something very simple that does not require even minimum qualifications.’ The penal authorities yesterday sought to . detain him in the tiny village for the duration of his sentence, but he . has demanded a move closer to Moscow, where his Siberian-born wife, . model Elena Perminova, lives with their two young children. The tycoon’s 83-year-old mother Maria, a teacher, came to check he was working properly in his exile. ‘She never praises. It was good she did not criticise me,’ he jokingly said. Mr Lebedev’s snow-clearing came as others convicted under by controversial court decisions in Russia are in limbo about their fate. Russia appeared last week to dash hopes that 26 foreigners - among 30 people seized during a Greenpeace protest in the Arctic - would be allowed to travel home for Christmas. Verdict: Lebedev, centre left with his son and co-publisher Evgeny, at the trial in Moscow earlier this year . The powerful Investigative Committee, equivalent of the FBI, is objecting allowing them exit visas to fly home pending trials for “hooliganism” in protesting at a Gazprom oil rig in the Arctic. Jailed Pussy Riot singers Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, and Maria Alyokhina, 25, are forced to wait to see if they qualify release under a state amnesty or whether their two year sentences will be quashed after the Russian supreme court, which last week ordered a view of their punishments. Mr Lebedev called for both the Greenpeace campaigners  and the Pussy Riot singers to be amnestied.
Russian oligarch sentenced to 150 hours of service for punching someone .
Independent and Evening Standard owner started work in designer jacket .
Blasted penal system for not putting his expertise to good use .
By . Will Stewart In Moscow . Media tycoon Alexander Lebedev shovelled snow in a remote Russian village last week as part of his sentence for punching a fellow oligarch during a TV debate. The former KGB spy, owner of The Independent titles and the London Evening Standard, was ordered to clear snow at a nursery school in Maxim Gorky, close to a potato farm he owns 180 miles south of Moscow. He said he was 'enjoying' the work, which will amount to 150 hours of service. Hard at work: Owner of The Independent Alexander Lebedev cleared snow in front of a school . Punishment: The snow-shovelling follows a shift of digging and lifting to repair a playground in Maxim Gorky . Convenience: Lebedev changed his official residential address to the nearby village of Popovka, 177 miles south of Moscow, which meant he would serve his punishment close to his potato farm . The 53-year-old was spared jail despite a . conviction in July for dramatically striking billionaire Sergei . Polonsky during the 2011 television chat show. The trial was considered to be a political ‘show trial’ and linked to Lebedev’s ownership of a Russian investigative newspaper which spotlights corruption in Vladimir Putin’s government and entourage. Dressed in a designer jacket and gloves, . Lebedev, 53, cleared the first big snow of winter to allow children to . attend the school. Sentenced: Lebedev was sentenced to 150 hours of service for punching a fellow oligarch on TV . So far, the banker has learned to handle a chainsaw and fretsaw to mend playground apparatus - despite criticising his conviction and the penal system for failing to exploit his expertise. He said: ‘I object to the conviction in a legal sense so how can this be a meaningful punishment? Still, the law is the law and I show by doing what I am doing that I respect the law.’ He added: ‘It is a pity that such public works don’t use the most of what a person can do. ‘I would be glad to give some lectures, but no way, instead I must improve the environment and do something very simple that does not require even minimum qualifications.’ The penal authorities yesterday sought to . detain him in the tiny village for the duration of his sentence, but he . has demanded a move closer to Moscow, where his Siberian-born wife, . model Elena Perminova, lives with their two young children. The tycoon’s 83-year-old mother Maria, a teacher, came to check he was working properly in his exile. ‘She never praises. It was good she did not criticise me,’ he jokingly said. Mr Lebedev’s snow-clearing came as others convicted under by controversial court decisions in Russia are in limbo about their fate. Russia appeared last week to dash hopes that 26 foreigners - among 30 people seized during a Greenpeace protest in the Arctic - would be allowed to travel home for Christmas. Verdict: Lebedev, centre left with his son and co-publisher Evgeny, at the trial in Moscow earlier this year . The powerful Investigative Committee, equivalent of the FBI, is objecting allowing them exit visas to fly home pending trials for “hooliganism” in protesting at a Gazprom oil rig in the Arctic. Jailed Pussy Riot singers Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, and Maria Alyokhina, 25, are forced to wait to see if they qualify release under a state amnesty or whether their two year sentences will be quashed after the Russian supreme court, which last week ordered a view of their punishments. Mr Lebedev called for both the Greenpeace campaigners  and the Pussy Riot singers to be amnestied.
for punching a fellow oligarch during a TV Independent titles and the London Evening designer jacket and gloves, . Lebedev, 53, Lebedev was sentenced to 150 hours of service for criticising his conviction and the penal system