A Russian journalist was sentenced to six years in a penal colony after accusing the Russian air force of bombing a theater in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol last year.
The Europe and Central Asia coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Gulnoza Said, issued a statement on Maria Ponomarenko’s sentencing. “Russian authorities should be ashamed of the six-year prison sentence given to journalist Maria Ponomarenko, whose sole so-called crime was publishing information about the war in Ukraine that did not conform to the official narrative.” The verdict is the latest in a series of rulings in Russia that ban criticism of the war.
An investigation by human rights group Amnesty International found Russian forces guilty of a war crime after striking the theater. Russia says it goes to great lengths to avoid hurting civilians.
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