A Mighty Girl's 2025 Profile in Courage: Darya Kozyreva, a 19-year-old Russian anti-war activist, faced years of imprisonment in a penal colony for quoting a Ukrainian poem and calling Russia's war "monstrous." Her defiant final words to the court before sentencing? "I have no guilt, my conscience is clear."
Darya was sentenced to nearly three years in a penal colony in April after being convicted of "discrediting" the Russian military. Her crime? Affixing a piece of paper with lines from "My Testament," a poem by Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, to his statue in St. Petersburg on the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine; writing a blog post criticizing the war; and giving an interview to Radio Free Europe in which she called the war "criminal."
After her arrest on February 24, 2024, Darya was held in pre-trial detention for nearly a year before being released to house arrest this past February. In her final statement to the court, the former medical student remained unapologetic, telling the judge "Ukraine is a free country, a free nation, and it will decide its own fate."
Prosecutors sought a six-year sentence. Darya pleaded not guilty, describing the case as "one big fabrication." The case against this young political prisoner exemplifies Russia's further descent into repression, with authorities wielding draconian "war censorship laws" to silence any expression of dissent.
Memorial, the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group, has recognized Darya as a political prisoner, calling the charges against her "absurd." According to the Russian human rights group OVD-Info, more than 1,500 people are currently jailed in Russia on political grounds, with over 20,000 detained for anti-war views since February 2022.
Amnesty International's Russia Director Natalia Zviagina observed, "Darya 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." The verdict stands as "another chilling reminder of how far the Russian authorities will go to silence peaceful opposition to their war in Ukraine."
Darya turned 20 in October while imprisoned in a penal colony. As for the lines the Russian government found so dangerous that they imprisoned a young woman for years for quoting them?
"Oh bury me, then rise ye up
And break your heavy chains
And water with the tyrants' blood
The freedom you have gained."
gummygunk
prguitarman
vaporwave
romaincrisis
turnnoffyourmind
yousharknotpass
izzy806
