Russian teen who quoted Ukrainian poet in criminal trial closing statement faces new prosecution
On April 18, a Russian court sentenced 19-year-old activist Darya Kozyreva to two years and eight months in prison for repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian army. This week, a St. Petersburg court registered a new case against Kozyreva based on her closing statement at her previous trial. In that statement, she quoted a poem in Ukrainian by Taras Shevchenko, condemned centuries-long attempts by Russian authorities to subjugate Ukraine, and expressed hope that Ukraine “will reclaim every inch of its land, including Donbass and Crimea.”
In April, Kozyreva was convicted of “discrediting” the Russian army for attaching a quatrain from Taras Shevchenko's poem “Testament” on St. Petersburg’s Taras Shevchenko monument in February 2024. In August 2024, the authorities added a second “discrediting” charge based on an interview Kozyreva gave to RFE/RL, in which she called the war in Ukraine “monstrous” and “criminal.”
