Irina Izmailova

She is an activist of the environmental movement “Recycling for Charity.” Her boyfriend, Aleksandr Kudashev, joined the Russian Volunteer Corps - a formation composed of Russian nationals fighting on the side of Ukraine. He believes that this was the reason for Izmailova’s prosecution. He did not tell her about his participation in the war. In the spring and summer of 2023, while in Moldova, they assisted Ukrainian refugees together. Izmailova was detained on 31 August 2023 without any official paperwork being drawn up and was interrogated without legal counsel. That same day, she signed a confession stating that she had possessed explosives. The following day, her apartment was searched. Neither her relatives nor her lawyer were allowed to be present during the investigative actions. The court ordered her into custody. Although Izmailova already had a lawyer, investigators assigned her another one. Initially, Izmailova’s lawyer suggested that the explosives may have been planted during the search, as her relatives did not believe she was capable of radical actions. However, the lawyer later reported that while in Moldova, Izmailova had met a man named Vitaliy, who effectively coerced her into carrying out his instructions by threatening that her relatives in Ukraine would be killed if she refused. Izmailova did make an explosive substance, but did not intend to use it. In June 2024, it emerged that Izmailova’s communications with Vitaliy and another man named Alexander had been classified as high treason, and a case was opened against her under this charge as well. On 11 June 2025, Izmailova was sentenced to 20 years in a general-regime penal colony.