Fri Apr 18 17:53:49 UTC 2025: ## Russian Activist Sentenced to Nearly Three Years for Anti-War Graffiti and Poetry

**St. Petersburg, Russia** – A Russian court sentenced 19-year-old Daria Kozyreva to two years and eight months in prison on Friday for protesting the war in Ukraine. Kozyreva, a medical student, was found guilty of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian army through acts of peaceful protest.

Her actions included spraying anti-war graffiti on a sculpture in St. Petersburg and displaying a poem by Taras Shevchenko, a renowned Ukrainian poet, on a statue of the poet. The poem, which contains lines about overthrowing tyrants, was interpreted by the court as an act of dissent. Kozyreva also gave an interview to Radio Free Europe’s Russian-language service, Sever.Realii, further contributing to her conviction.

Kozyreva pleaded not guilty, calling the charges fabricated and maintaining her innocence. Despite a previous fine for online posts about Ukraine and subsequent expulsion from university, she refused to remain silent. She spent nearly a year in pre-trial detention before being released to house arrest earlier this year.

Amnesty International’s Russia director, Natalia Zviagina, condemned the verdict, calling it a chilling example of the Russian authorities’ efforts to suppress dissent. Zviagina highlighted Kozyreva’s punishment for quoting classic Ukrainian poetry and speaking out against the war. The organization is demanding her immediate and unconditional release, along with others imprisoned under similar “war censorship laws.”

Kozyreva’s case is one of many highlighting the increasing repression of anti-war sentiment in Russia. According to Memorial, a Russian human rights group, an estimated 234 individuals are currently imprisoned for their anti-war stance. This crackdown extends beyond anti-war activism, with arrests for espionage and the collection of sensitive data also rising sharply since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The cases of journalist Evan Gershkovich and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva exemplify this trend.

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