A Crimean lawyer who initially embraced Russian expansionism into Ukraine, but began questioning Kremlin activities following this year's invasion, was removed from the Russian judiciary on Monday after a directive from President Vladimir Putin.
Natalia Poklonskaya was born in Ukraine and was a prosecutor in Crimea at the time of Russia's annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
She gained fame - and infamy - for embracing Kremlin control of the region, working as a prosecutor for the new regime before entering politics as a member of the Duma and then moving into a Foreign Ministry job focusing on Russian relations with residents of the former Soviet republics.
Long reviled as a traitor by many Ukrainians for her acceptance of the Crimean annexation, she seemed to toe the line set by Moscow. But, after this year's invasion of Ukraine, she spoke out publicly against the offensive, at one point calling it a "catastrophe."
"Please stop. I think that we've gone too far and have reached the point where we have to store up courage for the future and not put it in the hands of those carrying weapons." She also referred to the character Z - which has become a symbol of support for the war and Putin - as a mark of "tragedy and mourning, for both Russia and Ukraine."
That statement earned a promise of "consequences" for her from the Rossotrudnichestvo, the Foreign Ministry-linked agency for which she worked.
