A Russian activist, recognized for assisting Ukrainians to escape from Moscow’s invasion, has been handed a 22-year prison sentence on allegations of treason and funding terrorism, as reported by her lawyer and Russian media on Friday.
Nadezhda Rossinskaya, also known by the alias Nadin Geisler, was the driving force behind a volunteer initiative named “Army of Beauties.” This group purports to have facilitated the evacuation of thousands from areas under Russian control, although these claims remain unverified by independent sources.
Some evacuees managed to reach territories under Ukrainian control via Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region, home to the last open checkpoint connecting the two nations, according to the group’s statements.
In view of potential threats to her safety, Rossinskaya initially fled to Georgia in 2023. However, independent Russian news agencies indicated that she chose to return to Belgorod months later to oversee a complicated evacuation effort.
In February 2024, she was apprehended following an Instagram post soliciting donations for Ukrainian forces, subsequently facing charges of treason and terrorism financing, as outlined in Russian court documents and shared by her lawyer, Alexey Pryanishnikov.
Rossinskaya refuted any allegations of misconduct, asserting through her lawyer that she neither authored nor disseminated the incriminating post, as per a trial transcript put together by the Russian independent media outlet, Mediazona.
During her trial at a military court in Belgorod, prosecutors demanded an extraordinarily severe sentence of 27 years. In a striking courtroom exchange, as reported by Mediazona, Rossinskaya requested an even longer sentence of 27 years and one day, should the court declare her guilty, aiming to set a record for the longest sentence given to a female in contemporary Russia.
A similar lengthy term of 27 years is currently served by Darya Trepova, involved in a 2023 bombing that claimed the life of a pro-war blogger in St Petersburg.
Rossinskaya’s name was officially included in Russia’s list of “extremists and terrorists” last September, joining numerous others who have openly criticized the ongoing conflict, sought to fund pro-Ukrainian efforts, or supported those impacted by the warfare.
Reportedly, the frequency of criminal cases about treason, espionage, and foreign collaboration has significantly surged following Russia’s comprehensive invasion, according to data from a Russian legal association.
Data from Pervy Otdel highlight that at least 792 individuals faced trial on related charges from February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, to December 2024, with over 530 facing conviction.