Russian journalist jailed for anti-war statements starts hunger strike

Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist from Siberia serving a six-year prison sentence for speaking out against the war in Ukraine, has declared a hunger strike, according to her publication and a supporter. The 46-year-old was detained less than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 for accusing the Russian air force of bombing a theatre in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. She was found guilty last February of spreading false information about the Russian military by a court in her hometown of Barnaul in western Siberia. More than 20,000 people have been arrested across Russia for speaking out against the war, according to rights monitor OVD-Info. While most of those detained are fined and soon released, independent journalists often receive harsher treatment by courts. Including Ponomarenko, a total of four journalists for RusNews, an online outlet which publishes only in Russian and has little audience abroad, are behind bars. The vast majority of independent media now operate from exile. Ponomarenko now faces new criminal charges for allegedly attacking guards in the prison where she is incarcerated, according to RusNews. Yulia Galyamina, a former Moscow city councillor, said Ponomarenko had been placed in an isolation cell after prison officials had falsified inspection reports against her, prompting her to declare a hunger strike at a court hearing on Monday.
 
 