Former Crimean Prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya has been dismissed from her post in the Russian government, weeks after criticizing Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin removed Poklonskaya from her post as the deputy head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s federal agency for international outreach, on Monday.
The 42-year-old took up the role in February 2022, after declining to run for a second term as a deputy for the ruling United Russia party in Russia’s lower house of parliament.
Poklonskaya announced on social media that she has been appointed as Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov’s adviser as of Tuesday.
“I am discontinuing my social media accounts and any public activities,” she wrote on Telegram.
Poklonskaya’s re-assignment comes after the former lawmaker spoke out against Moscow’s invasion of her native Ukraine, calling it a “catastrophe.”
“People are dying, houses and entire cities are destroyed [leaving] millions of refugees. Bodies and souls are mutilated. My heart is bursting with pain.”
“My two native countries are killing each other, that’s not what I wanted and it’s not what I want,” she said in a video address to an international forum in April.
She later criticized the spread of Russia’s pro-war Z symbol, which has been prominently displayed on buildings, merchandise and even cakes to symbolize the public’s support for Russian troops in Ukraine.
Her comments sparked outrage from other officials, including her boss, Rossotrudnichestvo chief Yevgeny Primakov. He later claimed that the letter Z was a symbol of the “liberation of Ukraine from the obvious evil of terrorists and bandits.”
Poklonskaya was thrust into the international spotlight when she was appointed as prosecutor general of Ukraine’s annexed Crimean peninsula in 2014. She was elected to the lower-house State Duma in 2016, but did not seek re-election in 2021.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
