Russian Journalist Sentenced for Distributing Information About the Russian Army

The court in the city of Barnaul has sentenced RusNews journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison. She has been found guilty of disseminating information about the Russian army. According to Russian authorities, this information was false, as reported by Sibir.Realii lawyer Dmitry Shitov.

Ponomarenko has also been banned from engaging in public activities online for five years. The defense team plans to appeal the verdict.

According to the prosecution, Ponomarenko published information on Telegram's 'No Censorship' channel about civilians from Mariupol who were killed during the Russian bombing of the city theater.

'Believe me, there are many more decent people behind bars than in the 'United Russia' party. I hardly expect to be granted conditional early release. No totalitarian regime has ever been as strong as before its collapse,' Ponomarenko said in her last speech.