Marina Ponomarenko in court for her sentencing, 27 March 2025. Photo: Free Marina Ponomarenko / Telegram
Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko, who is currently serving a six-year sentence for “spreading false information” about the Russian military, has been given an additional term of one year and 10 months after being found guilty of assaulting prison staff, independent media outlet RusNews reported on Thursday.
Ponomarenko, who comes from the Siberian city of Barnaul in the republic of Altai and who worked for RusNews before her arrest, was convicted of “spreading false information” about the Russian military in 2023 for a Telegram post she wrote about the Russian siege of Mariupol.
A second criminal case against her was opened in December 2023, after investigators claimed she attacked two members of prison staff, including the head of the facility’s security department, as they attempted to take her to a disciplinary hearing she had refused to attend.
Factoring in the remainder of her original prison sentence, Ponomarenko, who has repeatedly and categorically denied the fresh charges against her, will have to remain behind bars for another three years, RusNews said.
In addition to the extended prison sentence, Ponomarenko has been ordered to undergo compulsory psychiatric treatment after her release, her lawyer Dmitry Shitov told independent news outlet SOTAvision, adding that he and Ponomarenko intended to appeal the verdict.
Ponomarenko suffers from claustrophobia and a dissociative disorder and has been denied essential medical treatment for her borderline personality disorder by prison staff, according to her lawyers. During her incarceration, she has gone on hunger strike multiple times to demand an improvement in her living conditions, and has attempted to take her own life.
On Monday, she used her closing statement on Monday to tell the court about her recent suicide attempt, which she said came as a result of beatings and torture at the hands of prison staff.
Ponomarenko said she had “never seen as much violence anywhere” as she had in Russia’s penitentiary system and that her torture and harassment by prison staff had “reached its peak” over the last few months, ultimately prompting her to attempt suicide by slitting her wrists.
