{
  "id": 154,
  "slug": "2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence",
  "title": "Russia: journalist Maria Ponomarenko is sentenced to six years for reporting on a Mariupol strike",
  "occurred_on": "2023-02-15",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "RU",
  "country": "RU",
  "continent": "europe",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
  "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Ponomarenko's post concerned an airstrike that hit a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, in March 2022, a strike Russian authorities have denied responsibility for.",
  "outcome": "sustained",
  "outcome_on": "2023-02-15",
  "outcome_note": "Ponomarenko's six-year sentence and five-year journalism ban stood as of the source reviewed.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "A Russian court sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison and a five-year ban on journalism under a law criminalizing \"false information\" about the military, after she published a Telegram post about an airstrike on a Mariupol theater that Russia denies carrying out.{c:609}{c:610}{c:611}",
  "what_happened": "On February 15, 2023, a Russian court sentenced Maria Ponomarenko, a correspondent for the independent news website RusNews, to six years in prison and a five-year ban on journalistic activity, under Russia's law criminalizing the spread of what it calls false information about the armed forces. The charge stemmed from a post Ponomarenko published on a Telegram news channel about an alleged Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, in March 2022, a strike Russian authorities deny having carried out. Ponomarenko had been detained since April 2022. Prosecutors had requested a nine-year sentence before the court imposed six years instead. In her final statement to the court, Ponomarenko said she might have asked for leniency had she committed a real crime, but said she had not.{c:609}{c:610}{c:611}\n\nPonomarenko was sentenced to six years in prison; the source reviewed does not report a release.{c:609}{c:610}{c:611}",
  "stated_justification": "Ponomarenko was charged under Russia's law criminalizing the spread of \"false information\" about the armed forces, over her post about the Mariupol theater strike.{c:609}{c:610}{c:611}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "A journalist received a six-year prison sentence and a five-year professional ban for a single social media post about a wartime strike that contradicted the government's account of events.{c:609}{c:610}{c:611}",
  "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not report the outcome of any appeal Ponomarenko may have filed.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:32:47Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 8,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:17:20Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:21:11Z",
  "stage": "eliminate",
  "ladder_note": "A journalist received a six-year sentence and a five-year professional ban under a wartime false-information law for one social media post, not a fine or license action.",
  "country_name": "Russia",
  "tactics": [
    "insult_and_defamation_laws"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "vladimir-putin",
    "name": "Vladimir Putin",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:32:47Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The source reviewed does not report the outcome of any appeal Ponomarenko may have filed."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/vladimir-putin"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "rusnews",
      "name": "RusNews",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/rusnews"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "maria-ponomarenko",
      "name": "Maria Ponomarenko",
      "outlet": "rusnews",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/maria-ponomarenko"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 609,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 154,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "six-year sentence, February 15, 2023",
      "statement": "The court sentenced Ponomarenko to six years in prison and a five-year ban on journalistic activity.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 364,
      "evidence_quote": "Six years in prison plus a five-year ban on journalistic activities",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-15",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:32:45Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 364,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
        "title": "Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to 6 years in prison",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-15",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/609"
    },
    {
      "id": 610,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 154,
      "field": "scope_of_action",
      "value": "Mariupol theater post",
      "statement": "The charge stemmed from Ponomarenko's Telegram post about an alleged Russian airstrike on a Mariupol theater, which Russia denies.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 364,
      "evidence_quote": "Ponomarenko published information in a Telegram news channel about an alleged Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, which Russian authorities deny responsibility for.",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-15",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
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      "source": {
        "id": 364,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
        "title": "Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to 6 years in prison",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-15",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/610"
    },
    {
      "id": 611,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 154,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "final statement to the court",
      "statement": "Ponomarenko told the court she would have asked for leniency only if she had committed a real crime.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 364,
      "evidence_quote": "she might have asked for leniency if she had committed a real crime, but said she had not",
      "evidence_date": "2023-02-15",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
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      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:32:46Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 364,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
        "title": "Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to 6 years in prison",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2023-02-15",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
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      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/611"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 364,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2023/02/russian-journalist-maria-ponomarenko-sentenced-to-6-years-in-prison/",
      "title": "Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to 6 years in prison",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2023-02-15",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    },
    {
      "id": 441,
      "url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-journalist-gets-six-years-accusing-russia-ukraine-theatre-bombing-2023-02-15/",
      "final_url": "https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-journalist-gets-six-years-accusing-russia-ukraine-theatre-bombing-2023-02-15/",
      "title": "Russian journalist gets six years for accusing Russia of Ukraine theatre bombing",
      "publisher": "Reuters",
      "published_on": "2023-02-15",
      "link_state": "paywalled",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Russia: journalist Maria Ponomarenko is sentenced to six years for reporting on a Mariupol strike. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}