Jailed Russian teenage activist faces fresh charges of ‘discrediting’ the army for closing statement in court

A court in St. Petersburg is to hear a fresh case against a jailed Russian activist for “discrediting” the Russian army, the court’s press service announced on Friday.

The new charges against Darya Kozyreva, 19, have arisen from her closing statement in court last month, when she was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for “repeatedly discrediting” the Russian military. “Kozyreva was allowed to speak in court, and duly violated the law, distinguishing herself with statements about war, occupation, and so on,” the press service said.

Kozyreva was detained by police on 24 February 2024, the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after she left flowers at a St. Petersburg monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko alongside a handwritten excerpt from one of his poems.

Kozyreva used her closing statement at her trial to declaim part of the 1840 Taras Shevchenko poem To Osnovianenko in Ukrainian: “Our thought, our song / Will not die, will not perish… / Oh there, people, is our glory, / Glory to Ukraine!”.

Ending her speech, Kozyreva said that she hoped Ukraine would one day “get back every inch of its land” including Donbas and Crimea. “One day, history will bring justice. But Ukraine has already won.”

In August, she had a second charge for “discrediting the military” added to her docket for giving an interview to news outlet Sever.Realii, an affiliate of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that has been declared an “undesirable organisation” in Russia. Kozyreva pleaded not guilty to both charges.