Reacting to the conviction of 19-year-old anti-war activist Daria Kozyreva for “repeated discreditation of the Russian armed forces,” Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Russia Director, said:
“Today’s verdict is another chilling reminder of how far the Russian authorities will go to silence peaceful opposition to their war in Ukraine.”
“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’.”
Background
On 18 April, the Petrogradsky District Court of St. Petersburg sentenced Daria Kozyreva, a former medical student, to two years and eight months in a penal colony under the draconian law on “discreditation of the armed forces” (Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). She was convicted for peaceful acts of dissent: posting a blog entry criticizing Russia’s war in Ukraine; giving an interview to a RFE/RL media project; and affixing a quote from the poem “Testament” by renowned Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko to his monument in St. Petersburg. The quote read: “Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants’ blood / The freedom you have gained”.
Daria Kozyreva spent nearly a year in pre-trial detention and was subjected to forced psychiatric evaluation. On 7 February 2025, she was released from pre-trial detention, as she had been held for the maximum time allowed. Her freedom remained restricted: she was under curfew and prohibited from using her phone or the Internet and from talking to the media.
