**Russian Court Jails 19-Year-Old Activist for Quoting Ukrainian Poet and Criticizing War**
A court in St. Petersburg has handed down a harsh sentence to 19-year-old Darya Kozyreva, a vocal critic of Russia’s war in Ukraine. On April 18, she was sentenced to two years and eight months in a penal colony for allegedly “discrediting” the Russian army.
Kozyreva’s troubles began on February 24, when she affixed a quote from Taras Shevchenko’s poem “My Testament” to his statue in St. Petersburg. The verse read: “Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants’ blood / The freedom you have gained.” This act of defiance was seen as a challenge to the Russian government’s narrative on Ukraine.
Things took a turn for the worse when Kozyreva gave an interview to Radio Free Europe in August, in which she called Russia’s war in Ukraine “monstrous” and “criminal.” Prosecutors sought a six-year sentence, but the court ultimately handed down a more lenient punishment.
Kozyreva’s defense was simple: she had only recited a poem and pasted a quote in Ukrainian. However, this did not stop the authorities from pursuing her with a vengeance. In her final statement to the court, Kozyreva made it clear that she stood by her words and would continue to speak out against injustice.
**A Pattern of Targeting**
Kozyreva has been targeted by authorities before. In December 2022, while still in high school, she was detained for writing a message on a city installation honoring the twinning of St. Petersburg and occupied Mariupol. She was later fined for “discrediting” the army and expelled from university for a post about the “imperialist nature of the war.”
**A Broader Context**
The case against Kozyreva is just one of many examples of the Russian government’s increasing intolerance for dissenting voices. According to OVD-Info, more than 1,500 people are currently jailed in Russia on political grounds, and over 20,000 have been detained for anti-war views since February 2022.
Amnesty International’s Russia Director Natalia Zviagina has spoken out against Kozyreva’s sentencing, saying: “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.'”
As Russia continues to crack down on dissenting voices, it’s clear that freedom of speech is under threat in the country.
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