Russia court sentences 19-year-old activist for poetic protest of Ukraine conflict – JURIST
The Petrogradsky District Court of St. Petersburg in Russia sentenced activist Daria Kozyreva to two years and eight months in prison for “discrediting the armed forces” by using 19th-century Ukrainian poetry and graffiti in protest of Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to local media sources.
Kozyreva began her anti-war activism in 2022. That year, she was detained for spray-painting the words “Murderers, you bombed it. Judases” on a sculpture commemorating the twinning of St. Petersburg and the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. In early 2024, she was fined and expelled from university for criticizing the “imperialist nature of the war” between Russia and Ukraine in a social media post.
On the second anniversary of the conflict between the two countries, Kozyreva taped a piece of paper bearing a quote from Testament, a poem by 19th-century Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, onto his statue in a St. Petersburg park. The excerpt read: “Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants’ blood / The freedom you have gained.”
According to Amnesty International, Kozyreva spent nearly a year in pre-trial detention before her sentencing and was subjected to a forced psychiatric evaluation. After her release, she remained under strict conditions, including a curfew and limited access to her phone, the internet, and media.
Amnesty International’s Russia Director Natalia Zviagina condemned the court’s decision, calling it “another chilling reminder of how far the Russian authorities will go to silence peaceful opposition to their war in Ukraine.” She added: “Daria Kozyreva is being punished for quoting a classic of 19th-century Ukrainian poetry, for speaking out against an unjust war, and for refusing to stay silent. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Daria Kozyreva and everyone imprisoned under ‘war censorship’ laws.”
