Maria Ponomarenko

A reporter for RusNews. In 2021 she was subjected to a pre-investigative inspection in order to initiate a case on repeated violations of the procedure for arranging public events, but ultimately, the case was not initiated.
On April 23, 2022, she was detained in St. Petersburg, and on April 27 she was taken into custody. She was initially charged under the article 207.3 part 1 of the Criminal Code, but afterwards the charges were reclassified to the more serious part 2. On May 23 it became known that Ponomarenko was transferred to Barnaul. In September, it was reported that due to debilitating mental state the journalist broke a window in her cell and cut her veins. She was sent to the punishment cell. On November 14 Ponomarenko was transferred under house arrest. On the night of January 27 due to a conflict with her ex-husband, in whose flat Ponomarenko was obliged to serve house arrest, she went to the police station, after which the court changed her preventive measure to detention. On February 15, 2023, she was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony. After the sentencing she was transferred to another pre-trial detention centre, where she was forced to undress during a search, which caused Ponomarenko to have a fit of rage. The officers used force against her and sent her to a psychiatric hospital, where she spent three days. In the colony Ponomarenko is not allowed to hand any documents on violations of procedure by the colony staff over to her lawyer. In addition, starting with September 17, she has stopped receiving letters and has not yet received the necessary medical care.
On November 2, 2023, it became known that a new criminal case was opened against Ponomarenko for causing harm to a prison officer that was not a threat to this officer's health. During one of the hearings on the case, the officer actually admitted that he would not have initiated filing a complaint against Ponomarenko on his own.
On March 18, 2025, Ponomarenko's lawyer reported that she was on the verge of suicide.
On March 27, 2025, Ponomarenko was sentenced to an additional year and ten months in a general regime penal colony on the basis of this second case.

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