Maria Ponomarenko

Maria Ponomarenko, born in 1978, is a political prisoner, activist and journalist from Barnaul, as well as a mother of two.

In 2023, she was sentenced to six years in prison for “spreading fake news about the Russian military” due to her anti-war post regarding the bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theatre in Ukraine, in which over 300 Ukrainian civilians lost their lives. She has been in custody since April 2022.

In September 2022, Maria first lost her job in the punishment cell as a protest against the torture and punishment inflicted by the prison administration.

Later, her sentence was commuted to house arrest. However, Maria was abused by her husband at home, so she ran away to the police station and asked them to take her back to the detention facility.

A second criminal case was later opened against Maria, who was accused of attacking two prison guards while they were escorting her to the prison’s disciplinary commission. Maria pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to an additional year and ten months in prison.

From the outset of her detention, Maria had been actively resisting and reporting the systemic abuse of power, torture and violence inflicted on her and other prisoners by the authorities.

After receiving continued pressure, Maria experienced a nervous breakdown in August 2025 and attempted suicide three times. She was hospitalised and then returned to the facility.

In September 2025, a trial criminal case was brought against Maria, but the details of the accusations are still unknown. Mariaencourages people to write to her and other political prisoners, she says that this support helps her keep going:

“I could have been free by autumn if I had betrayed myself. Pleading guilty and cooperating with the investigation would have guaranteed me a suspended sentence. So, it can be much easier to get out of prison than to escape from yourself. Any strong Dictatorships are at the strongest right before they fall apart.”

Maria Ponomarenko.