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Pro-Ukrainian Russian Activist Released After Two Years At Penal Colony


Darya Polyudova had called for greater autonomy for the southern Kuban region.

A Russian activist imprisoned for Internet posts criticizing Russia's interference in Ukraine has been released from a penal colony after serving her two-year sentence.

Darya Polyudova was released on October 20 from Penal Colony #10 in the southern Russian city of Novorossiisk, where she was sentenced on charges of propagating extremism and separatism online.

Polyudova said upon her release that she will continue to engage in political activities after a short period of rest.

Polyudova conducted several hunger strikes at Penal Colony #10 to protest conditions there.

She was charged in 2014 for Internet posts in which she criticized the Russian government's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and the Kremlin's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has designated Polyudova as a political prisoner.

Based on reporting by Grani.ru and Kommersant

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