Russian Journalist Sentenced to 6 Years Amid Crackdown
on war reporting
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in a penal colony for “spreading false information” after she accused Russian forces of bombing a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, last March. Amnesty International has accused Russia of a war crime over the bombing, which killed hundreds of people. Moscow blamed the explosion on Ukrainian nationalists.
A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in a penal colony for “spreading false information” after she accused Russian forces of bombing a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, last March. Amnesty International has accused Russia of a war crime over the bombing, which killed hundreds of people. Moscow blamed the explosion on Ukrainian nationalists.
Addressing the court before her sentencing, Ponomarenko concluded with the defiant words, “No totalitarian regime has ever been as strong as before its collapse.”