By Zurab Kochladze
Pixabay, April 23, 2016
19-year-old anti-war activist, Darya Kozyreva, has been sentenced to nearly three years in a Russian prison for taping a poem to a monument.
On April 18th, 2025, a court in St. Petersburg sentenced 19-year-old anti-war activist Darya Kozyreva to two years and eight months in prison. The activist was taken into custody in February 2024 after taping a sheet of paper with the excerpts from the poem My Testament by Ukrainian writer Taras Shevchenko to his monument. At first, according to the authorities, she was detained on charges of disobedience to a police officer.
However, later the case was classified as a criminal offence for allegedly “discrediting” the Russian army repeatedly. Notably, Kozyreva had received an administrative fine of 30,000 rubles (326$) in 2022 due to a post on VKontakte, in which she criticised amendments to the Russian Criminal Code. Before that, the activist had also written on an installation symbolising the friendship between St. Petersburg and Mariupol: “Killers, you bombed it. Judas”.
In August 2024, another case was brought against Darya Kozyreva for giving an interview to Radio Free Europe, in which she explained why St. Petersburg University expelled her after she received an administrative fine.
During one of the hearings, she defended herself by saying that the only action she took was reciting a poem and pasting a quote in Ukrainian on the monument. Still, the prosecutor’s office asked for a six-year sentence. In her final statement in court, the activist reaffirmed her support for Ukraine, saying that the Ukrainian flag still flies, and will always fly, over Kyiv. Moreover, she hopes that Ukraine will reclaim all its territory and believes that history will judge the situation fairly, despite her belief that Ukraine has already won.
The activist does not feel guilty and explains that her “conscience is clear” “because the truth is never guilty”. Kozyreva will be joined by more than 1500 political prisoners in Russia, who, according to OVD-Info, are in jail. The group also reports that, since February 2022, over 20,000 Russian citizens have been detained for expressing their anti-war views, 9,369 of which relate to ‘discrediting the army’.
As seen in the video footage by Reuters, the activist left the court smiling. As stated by Rafail Polyakov, the lawyer of Kozyreva, they will most likely appeal the verdict after reviewing it.
Sources and Further Readings:
19-летнюю активистку Дарью Козыреву осудили почти на три года по делу о “дискредитации” армии
Russia jails 19-year-old activist for quoting Ukrainian poet, criticizing war
Russia jails 19-year-old for nearly three years for condemning Ukraine conflict
“Я патриот в правильном смысле”. Отчислена из университета за “дискредитацию.”
Активистка Дарья Козырева осуждена за стихи и интервью Север.Реалии
Write to Russia: Darya Kozyreva – remanded in custody on charges of “discrediting” the Russian army
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