A Russian court has sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison on charge of discrediting Russia's armed forces for a social-media post highlighting a deadly attack on a Ukrainian theater last year.
Ponomarenko is the latest in a growing number of journalists, dissidents, and average citizens being prosecuted by the authorities under a law that criminalizes distributing or publishing material that the government considers to be discrediting to Russia's military.
In its February 15 ruling, the court in the Siberian city of Barnaul also barred Ponomarenko from working as a reporter and from any online activities for five years, defense lawyer Dmitry Shitov said.
In her final words to the court a day earlier, Ponomarenko again proclaimed her innocence and railed against the government.
"Patriotism is love for the motherland. And love for the motherland should not be manifested in the encouragement of crime. Corruption is a crime. Attacking a neighbor is a crime," she told the court.
"There will never be a winner in the slaughter of two brothers, believe me.... I do not differentiate Ukrainians from Russians. I feel sorry for every drop of blood shed for no reason."
"No totalitarian regime has ever been as strong as before its collapse," she told the court.
Ponomarenko was arrested in April 2022 for her online posts about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in particular for posting that Russian jets had carried out an attack against a theater in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
More than 1,000 civilians were believed to be sheltering in theater when it destroyed in a massive explosion in March, weeks after Russia's invasion.
Ukrainian authorities have said up to 300 people were killed. An investigation by the Associated Press later concluded the death toll was closer to 600.
Russia's military denied that it attacked the theater, which was later razed to the ground when Russian forces captured the port after a brutal siege.
A mother of two young children, Ponomarenko has said she's suffered mental-health problems while in detention.