Darya Kozyreva appears in court via video link on Thursday. Photo: SOTAvision

A court in the city of St. Petersburg has fined an activist already in jail for repeatedly “discrediting” the army 40,500 rubles (€450) for her closing statement in that case, independent news outlet Bumaga reported on Thursday.

Darya Kozyreva, who attended the court hearing via a video link, was found guilty of a misdemeanour for “discrediting” the army. The fresh charges against Kozyreva, 19, arose late last month after she quoted Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in the closing statement at her previous trial in April, during which she was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.

On that occasion, Kozyreva said that she hoped one day, Ukraine would “get back every inch of its land” including Donbas and Crimea. “One day, history will bring justice. But Ukraine has already won.”

Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, Kozyreva was not allowed to familiarise herself with the charges and had difficulty communicating with her lawyer due to a poor link.

Kozyreva was first detained on 24 February 2024, the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after she left flowers at a St. Petersburg monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko alongside a handwritten excerpt from one of his poems.

In August, she had a second charge for “discrediting the military” added to her docket for giving an interview to news outlet Sever.Realii, an affiliate of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that has been declared an “undesirable organisation” in Russia. Kozyreva pleaded not guilty to both charges.