MOSCOW — A Ukrainian film director who was sentenced to 20 years in jail in Russia in 2015 is ending a hunger strike that has lasted 144 days, Russian news media reported on Friday, citing a prison official and a statement passed on by his lawyer.

The director, Oleg Sentsov, is seen in much of the Western world as a political prisoner convicted on spurious charges of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism as a result of his outspoken criticism of the 2014 annexation of his native Crimea.

Mr. Sentsov, who lived in Simferopol, Crimea, was considered a promising director. His film “Gamer,” about a computer-game-obsessed Ukrainian teenager, was shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2012.

He was active in protests against the pro-Kremlin government of Viktor F. Yanukovych, who was toppled as president of Ukraine in February 2014, and activists have described how he helped evacuate Ukrainian servicemen who were blockaded in Crimea after the Russian takeover.