A court in the Russian city of Barnaul sentenced local journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian armed forces, a regional office of the Russian Investigative Committee said on Wednesday
BARNAUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2023) A court in the Russian city of Barnaul sentenced local journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian armed forces, a regional office of the Russian Investigative Committee said on Wednesday.
In late April 2022, Ponomarenko was arrested on charges of deliberately spreading false information about the Russian armed forces after she posted information on Telegram alleging that Russia had carried out an air strike on a theater in Mariupol which was used as an air raid shelter during the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
"Having considered the arguments advanced by the investigation, the court sentenced a resident of Barnaul to six year in prison, with the punishment of serving in a general regimen corrective colony," the statement read.
The journalist pleaded not guilty at trial, according to the court.
The sentence is yet to go into effect, the committee stated.
On February 24, Moscow launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against the Kiev forces. A week after, Russia introduced a law imposing a prison term of up to 15 years for intentionally spreading fake news about the military.
