Daria Kozyreva, a 20-year-old woman who was jailed for “discrediting” the Russian army, was released from prison on Wednesday morning, independent media reported.
Kozyreva was arrested on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine after she attached a poem by Ukrainian writer Taras Shevchenko to his monument in St. Petersburg.
In April 2025, a judge sentenced her to two years and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of “discrediting” the Russian army.
Authorities claimed Kozyreva “discredited” the military in comments she gave to the U.S.-funded outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) following her expulsion from St. Petersburg State University.
According to the independent news outlet RusNews, Kozyreva was released from prison in the Ivanovo region at 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Sotavision, another independent outlet, reported that Kozyreva’s mother had taken her after the release, adding that the prison was cordoned off due to an alleged bomb threat.
The time Kozyreva had spent in pre-trial detention counted toward her sentence. Under Russian law, time spent in pre-trial detention is counted as 1.5 days per actual day served, meaning she had effectively finished her sentence at the time of her release on Wednesday.
The Memorial human rights group had recognized Kozyreva as a political prisoner.
She had been previously arrested and fined for anti-war statements.
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