Within a week of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia introduced war censorship laws making anti-war protests or sharing information about the invasion a serious offence. Since then, thousands of people have been detained, and many have been sentenced simply for speaking out.
Russian authorities are determined to shut down dissent completely. In 2023, the number and length of sentences for anti-war posts on social media increased. In 2024, the parliament voted to confiscate the property of people charged under war censorship laws. The number of arbitrary terrorism-related charges also increased.
Prosecution of women under war censorship laws increasing
Women are increasingly targeted and prosecuted under the war censorship laws. At the same time, with a few exceptions, women detained for their critical views are less prominent or well-known compared to male counterparts.
The right to freedom of expression and assembly are non-negotiable. Amnesty International continues to call on Russian authorities to repeal these oppressive laws and release all those unjustly imprisoned for their peaceful protest.
The hundreds of women in Russia imprisoned for their opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine are “missing” from public life. They miss their loved ones and their communities. They are missing birthdays, weddings, coffee with friends or walking their dog. They are missing the chance to continue their activism.
This International Women’s Day, they need your solidarity.
Meet the women protesting against Russia’s aggression
Nina Slobodchikova
An IT specialist from Novosibirsk, Nina Slobodchikova transferred 5000 roubles (about US$65) to Ukraine at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. She was charged with state treason and on 11 April 2024, she was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment and a further one year of so-called restriction of freedom. The prosecution maintained that Nina donated to the armed forces of Ukraine, while she claims that she donated for humanitarian purposes.
Maria Ponomarenko
Maria Ponomarenko is a journalist and activist from Barnaul in Altai Krai, Western Siberia. On 23 April 2022, she was detained for sharing a Telegram post about the bombing of the Drama Theatre in Mariupol, Ukraine, by Russian forces. It contained a video from the theatre made before the attack and a short comment condemning civilian deaths. On 15 February 2023, a court in Barnaul convicted Maria Ponomarenko of “publicly disseminating false information about Russian Armed Forces”. She was sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment and a five-year ban on engaging in journalism on her release.
Evgenia Konforkina
Evgenia Konforkina is an animal welfare activist and horse-riding instructor from the town of Lyubertsy in Moscow Oblast. From the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she was actively expressing her anti-war and pro-Ukrainian position on her social media accounts. She is currently facing up to 20 years of imprisonment under state treason charges. Her criminal case is classified, and exact charges are unknown, but according to some leaks she is accused of transferring money to Ukraine. Evgenia was the only breadwinner in her family, taking care of her elderly parents, two cats and a dog, Dnipro.
Daria Kozyreva
Daria Kozyreva is one of the youngest activists prosecuted in Russia. A former medical student from Saint Petersburg, Russia, she is facing up to 7.5 years in prison for repeated “discreditation of the Russian Armed Forces” on two counts: for criticizing the war in a media interview and for pinning a poem of a 19th-century Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko to his monument in St. Petersburg, on the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2024. She has faced persecution for her public criticism of the war since she was just 16 years old. She was also expelled from her university for her activism.
Anastasia Dyudyaeva
Anastasia Dyudyaeva is a painter and visual artist from Taytsy, a small town in Leningrad Oblast, north-western Russia. She and her husband Aleksandr Dotsenko were convicted of “public incitement to terrorism” for allegedly placing hand-made cards containing anti-war poetry in the Ukrainian language in a local supermarket. On 18 July 2024 a military court in St. Petersburg sentenced her to three and a half years of imprisonment in a penal colony and her husband to three years.
Top banner of composite posters by Amnesty International.
