RusNews correspondent. In 2021, a pre-investigative inspection was conducted against her in order to initiate a case of repeated violations of the holding public events order, but as a result, the case was not initiated. On 23 April 2022, she was detained in St. Petersburg and taken into custody on 27 April. At first she was charged with the 1st part of Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code, but then the investigator reclassified it to the more serious 2nd part. On 23 May it became known that Ponomarenko was transferred to Barnaul. In September, it was reported that the journalist broke a window in her cell due to her severe mental state and cut open her veins. She was sent to the punishment cell. On 14 November Ponomarenko was transferred under house arrest. On the night of 27 January, due to a conflict with her ex-husband, in whose flat Ponomarenko was obliged to serve house arrest, she went to the police station, after which the court changed her preventive measure to detention. On 15 February 2023, she was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony. After the sentence was announced, she was transferred to another pre-trial detention centre, where she was forced to undress during a search, which caused Ponomarenko to have a fit of rage, after which force was used against her and she was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where she spent three days. In the colony Ponomarenko is not allowed to hand over the documents on violations by the colony staff to her lawyer. In addition, since 17 September she has stopped receiving letters and has not yet received the necessary medical care. On 2 November 2023, it became known that a new criminal case was opened against Ponomarenko - for causing harm not posing health risks to a prison officer. During one of the hearings in the case, the victim actually admitted that he would not have filed a complaint against Ponomarenko on his own initiative.