Journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to six years in prison for ‘fake news about army’

A court in Russia’s Barnaul has sentenced Maria Ponomarenko of RusNews to six years in prison for “spreading fake news about the Russian army”, as per RusNews.

Ponomarenko was also barred from any media activities for five years.

Criminal proceedings against her were triggered by a post in a Telegram channel with 1,600 followers, dated 17 March. Apparently, the post was about people hiding in the Mariupol drama theatre.

“When I hear Ukrainians calling for violence on TV, when I hear the same calls from our side, I don’t get it. We live in the 21st century, not the stone age, do we? Why didn’t we let Chechnya go in the 90s? The same things [irredentism] you support in a neighbouring country, you ban in your own one. That’s pure hypocrisy,” the journalist said in her final plea.

Ponomarenko was sent to a pre-trial facility in Saint Petersburg in late April 2022 where she slit her wrists in September. RusNews says their journalist has claustrophobia and histrionic personality disorder.

In November, Ponomarenko was sent to house arrest. In late January 2023 she left her apartment and came to a police station, after which she was sent to a pre-trial jail again by court decision. RusNews reported that she left home due to a hostile environment. Yulia Galyamina, a former Moscow councilwoman, reported that Ponomarenko had a quarrel with her ex-husband who resided in the same apartment.