New York, March 28, 2025—A court in Russia’s southern Altai Krai on Thursday convicted Maria Ponomarenko, a correspondent for independent news site RusNews, of using violence against prison staff and sentenced her to an additional 22 months in prison.

Ponomarenko is already serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted in February 2023 on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military.

“The additional 22 months in prison given to journalist Maria Ponomarenko shows the relentless attitude of the Russian authorities towards a journalist who has already been pushed to breaking point by the last three years spent in prison,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Authorities should immediately release Ponomarenko, along with all other jailed members of the press.”

With the latest sentence, and considering time served, Ponomarenko has three years left in prison, RusNews reported.

Russian authorities first detained Ponomarenko in April 2022 and accused her of publishing false information in a now-shuttered Telegram news channel about an alleged Russian airstrike on a theater crowded with refugees in Mariupol, Ukraine, for which Russian authorities denied responsibility.

On November 2, 2023, RusNews reported that authorities had opened a new criminal case against Ponomarenko for allegedly using violence against prison staff. The journalist allegedly resisted being escorted to a disciplinary commission by two prison employees, according to human rights website OVD-Info.

During a hearing on March 24, 2025, she spoke about a recent suicide attempt in prison, which she said came as a result of bullying by prison staff. She said she had been sent to a punishment cell 13 times in the past year. In 2023, a psychological and psychiatric examination revealed that Ponomarenko has a form of personality disorder and needs psychiatric assistance, which she is denied.

Russia was the world’s fifth-worst jailer of journalists, with at least 30 journalists behind bars on December 1, 2024, when CPJ conducted its most recent prison census.

CPJ emailed the prosecutor’s office in Altai Krai for comment but did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

This post was originally published on Radio Free.