Kremlin critic Kara-Murza wins Pulitzer Prize for columns written from prison cell

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent Russian human rights advocate and Kremlin critic, has won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary written from his prison cell.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent Russian human rights advocate and Kremlin critic, has won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary written from his prison cell. Kara-Murza is serving a 25-year jail term for publicly criticizing Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The sentence had been widely condemned by the international community as draconian and politically motivated. According to Monday’s Pulitzer announcement, Kara-Murza was awarded the prize for his “passionate columns” as a contributor to The Washington Post from prison in Russia “under great personal risk.” His writing “warns of the consequences of dissent in Vladimir Putin’s Russia and insists on a democratic future for his country,” it said. The writer’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, told the Washington Post on Monday that she is “truly heartbroken” that her husband could not be present to “accept this high distinction by himself.” She thanked the Post “for making sure that the voice of Vladimir is heard.”