Maria Ponomarenko worked for the RusNews portal and, according to the investigation, was also involved in running the Telegram channel 'Censorship No' (now renamed) with more than 1,000 subscribers. The case against Maria Ponomarenko was initiated on the basis of a post on this Telegram channel. The post, allegedly published by Maria, was dedicated to the Russian Air Force attack on the Mariupol Drama Theatre and the death of more than 300 civilians.

Maria Ponomarenko is also a well-known civic activist in Barnaul, where she has repeatedly taken part in protests and had a conflict with local authorities in 2020, when she drew the attention of the public and the head of Russia's Investigative Committee to the 'orphan case'.

While working in the real estate sector, Ponomarenko received information about violations in the provision of housing for orphans in the Altai region. Ponomarenko 'promoted' the issue, the media became interested in the situation, and as a result a criminal case was opened under the supervision of the head of the Investigative Committee. After that, Ponomarenko said that she began to receive threats. Fearing threats, Maria moved to St Petersburg. Ponomarenko's defence lawyer, Sergei Podolsky, believes that in Barnaul she might face threats, including physical elimination.

In 2022, when Maria was arrested the place of residence her minor children in Barnaul was searched. In addition, the journalist's eldest daughter was questioned. The defence suggests that the search and interrogation took place without the daughter's legal representatives - the father is on a business trip until May, and the children live with their grandparents.

The investigator stated that the journalist's eldest daughter testified against her mother. Therefore, they should be separated and any communication should be stopped. According to the defence, the mother is the legal representative of her child, and it is impossible in principle to prohibit communication between the mother and the child. This contradicts the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Family Code. In addition, the documents submitted to the court on 27 April do not contain materials of the daughter's interrogation.