Ponomarenko Maria Nikolaevna

Ponomarenko Maria Nikolaevna, born September 5, 1978, citizen of Russia, resident of Barnaul. Worked in the real estate sector, and also collaborated with the electronic publication RusNews as a journalist. Social activist. Has two minor children.

Under Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Public dissemination, under the guise of reliable messages, of knowingly false information containing data on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for the purpose of protecting the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintaining international peace and security, as well as containing data on the exercise by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for the said purposes, committed on the grounds of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on the grounds of hatred or enmity towards any social group"), she was sentenced to 6 years in a general regime penal colony and 5 years of a ban on journalistic activity.

She was in custody from April 23 to November 14, 2022, then transferred to house arrest. In January 2023, she was transferred back to the pretrial detention facility.