Russia critic Kara

NEW YORK (AP) — Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has written columns as a contributor for The Washington Post from his prison cell in Russia, has won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

Kara-Murza, 42, is a Russian politician, author and historian who has been imprisoned in Russia since April 2022. He was convicted of treason last year for denouncing the war in Ukraine.

He is serving 25 years, the most severe sentence given to a Kremlin critic in modern Russia. He is among a growing number of dissidents held in increasingly harsh conditions under President Vladimir Putin’s political crackdown.

The prize was awarded to Kara-Murza “for passionate columns written at great personal risk from his prison cell, warning of the consequences of dissent in Vladimir Putin’s Russia and insisting on a democratic future for his country,” according to the Pulitzer announcement on Monday.