The story of Olesya Krivtsova, a young Russian accused of terrorism for an Instagram story

Olesya Krivtsova is a 19-year-old student at the Northern (Arctic) Federal University in Arkhangelsk, Russia. The Kremlin has included it on the list of terrorists and extremists, which also includes ISIS, al Qaeda and the Taliban. Her reason: her activity on her Instagram and her messages in a group chat with her classmates where she was critical of the war in Ukraine.

She has been charged under the new extremist laws and faces a total of 10 years in jail: 3 years for discrediting the Russian military and up to 7 years for justifying terrorism. However, her legal defense hopes that the sentence will be something lighter, such as a fine. At the moment Krivtsova is under house arrest awaiting her trial. She is also prohibited from connecting to the Internet and using other forms of communication.

You want to know more? It’s 2 min.

Context.

• Following the Crimean bridge explosion in October 2022, Olesya uploaded an Instagram story criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She also commented on it in a class chat on Telegram. According to the Washington Post, her colleagues captured both the story and the messages and reported her to the Russian authorities.

• On December 26, the student’s apartment was searched and she was arrested. She was taken to the police station for questioning. Although she was not placed in pretrial detention, her movement was restricted as well as the use of the Internet and other forms of communication, according to information published by the local online media 29.ru.

• On January 3, she was detained and questioned again because someone anonymous had allegedly bought tickets to make it look like she wanted to leave the country. According to The Barents Observer, Krytsova explained the next day in a six-hour trial that she did not intend to leave Russia as her passport was damaged as well as hers. She suggested that it was a trap.

What will happen next? The judge has decided to place her under house arrest at her mother’s house in the city of Severodvinsk pending trial.

Krivtsova faces a penalty of:

• 3 years in prison for discrediting the Russian army

• Up to 7 years for justification of terrorism

The young woman has already been fined 30,000 rubles, about 400 euros, for hanging anti-war posters. According to the defense, the repetition of the same crime, the discrediting of the Russian army, makes it a criminal case.

Eye.

• According to the Washington Post, in the first arrest, the police entered the house that she and her family shared and threatened them with a mallet as a ‘greeting’ from the Russian mercenary group Wagner. This scared Krivtsova, especially because of the existence of a video where mercenaries execute an ex-convict with a sledgehammer.

• This 19-year-old girl has been included in the list of terrorists and extremists by the Kremlin, where organizations such as ISIS, al Qaeda or the Taliban are found. OVD-InfoRussia’s independent human rights monitoring body has reported the existence of at least 61 cases in 2022 accused of Internet terrorism, of which 26 have been sentenced.

Because it is important? Amnesty International describes Russia’s persecution of those who demonstrate against the war as a ‘witch hunt’. The director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of this organization states that “those caught criticizing the war face an absurd number of arbitrary charges for simply expressing themselves.”

• The young woman’s mother, Natalya Krivtsova, believes the Kremlin is trying to give the public a heads up, with her daughter being “publicly flogged” for not keeping her opinions to herself.

Still want to know more?

• Olesya Krivtsova wears the tracking bracelet on one of her ankles and, on the other, a tattoo with the face of the Russian president and spider legs. She is accompanied by the phrase “Big Brother is watching you.” “I don’t think there is a presumption of innocence here,” says the detainee herself.