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Maria Ponomarenko, a convicted journalist, made three suicide attempts between 30 July and 9 August. This was reported by lawyer Dmitry Shitov, who visited her at the regional tuberculosis hospital No. 12 in Barnaul, a major city in Siberia.

The first two attempts took place at PFRSI IK-9 in Rubtsovsk, also in Siberia. The cause was repeated placement in solitary confinement. “Right on the other side of the wall from the solitary cell, there were constant renovation works, and in the cell itself there were rats. Combined with her illness, this led to a nervous breakdown,” wrote Shitov. The third time, the journalist cut herself at IK-6 in Shipunovo following a conflict with colony staff. According to her lawyer, this led to significant blood loss, requiring her to be hospitalised. She needed a blood transfusion.

In August, Ponomarenko was transferred from IK-9 to IK-6. When Shitov tried to visit her at this facility on 13 August, his client was no longer there, and colony staff refused to say where she was. “Judging by the situation, she was here. Apparently something happened,” the lawyer concluded at the time. The next day, she was found at the hospital in Barnaul.

During her time in detention, the journalist was repeatedly placed in solitary confinement or a punishment cell, most recently in July. In March, she wrote in letters from pre-trial detention that she had slit her wrists due to constant abuse from prison staff.

Ponomarenko has been diagnosed with a histrionic personality disorder: her lawyer has stressed she needs medical psychotherapeutic care, which cannot be provided in pre-trial detention conditions.

  • In February 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Barnaul sentenced Maria Ponomarenko to six years in a penal colony on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (paragraph “d,” part 2, Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code). The prosecution was triggered by her post about the strike on the drama theatre in Mariupol, where civilians were present.
  • In March, the Shipunovo District Court of Altai Krai sentenced Ponomarenko to one year and ten months in a penal colony on charges of inflicting minor harm to a colony staff member (part 2, Article 321 of the Russian Criminal Code). After combining sentences and accounting for time already spent in pre-trial detention, her total sentence was increased by one month. The journalist was accused of assaulting two colony staffers who were preparing to escort her to a disciplinary commission. Ponomarenko herself denied this and said the prison officers suffocated her with a pillow and banged her head on the floor.