Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko was sentenced in Barnaul to six years in a general regime colony, RBC reported, citing the press service of the court. 

She was found guilty in the case of "fakes" about the armed forces.

Ponomarenko was convicted under Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code (public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces and the performance of their powers by Russian government agencies). The journalist did not plead guilty.

In March 2022, Ponomarenko published a report in her telegram channel that the Russian military carried out an air strike on the Mariupol Drama Theater.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the military did not strike the theater and did not consider the theater as a target because civilians might have been held hostage there, the agency blamed the explosion on the Ukrainian military. In July, the DNR authorities said that the explosion occurred inside the building.