“Her problems will fall on your younger daughter”: Investigation threatens family of student Olesya Krivtsova who fled Russia

Читать на русском языке

A state investigator in the case of Olesya Krivtsova, a second-year student at Northern (Arctic) Federal University who fled Russia after being accused of discrediting the Russian Army and justifying terrorism, is threatening to search the apartments of her relatives and persecute them, Olesya and her mother told The Barents Observer.

According to them, law enforcement officers have already searched the apartment of Olesya's husband's grandmother, and are now threatening to search her father and younger sister's residence:

“The investigator is threatening me on WhatsApp: 'Think about your younger daughter... Olesya's problems will fall on Ilya and your younger daughter’,” says Olesya's mother and notes that she knew nothing about Olesya's escape.

Krivtsova is now in Lithuania; she managed to escape from house arrest on March 12. Olesya clarified that the video of her removing the electronic tracking bracelet from her leg was recorded outside of Russia.

In January, Krivtsova was put on a list of extremists and terrorists. The student is a suspect in two criminal cases for “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” and “justification of terrorism” due to a reposted message and posts about the Crimean bridge explosion on the social network VK, in addition to her correspondence in a private chat room. A guilty verdict in court could give her up to 10 years in prison.

On December 26 last year, law enforcement officers searched the student's home. As Olesya later recounted, they brought a sledgehammer with them (according to one of the officers, the move was meant as a symbolic greeting from the Wagner PMC) and made Krivtsova lie face down on the floor together with her husband.

The case against Olesya included screenshots of her correspondence with a fellow student, along with a report. The media also received screenshots of Krivtsova’s correspondence in the student chat room, where the girl's classmates discussed whether it was better to report Krivtsova to the police or the FSB. One of the students who took part in the discussion argued that “reporting [on others] is a patriot's duty.”