Single mother sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempting to join Freedom of Russia Legion

A single mother in the Volga region republic of Mari El has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for treason and involvement with a terrorist organisation after she allegedly sought to join the Freedom of Russia Legion, independent news outlet SOTAvision reported on Friday.

Vera Sidorkina, a 48-year-old resident of the city of Yoshkar-Ola, was found guilty by a court in Yekaterinburg after over a year in police custody. The Freedom of Russia Legion, a paramilitary unit in the Ukrainian military composed of Russian volunteers opposed to the Putin regime, has been classified as a terrorist organisation in Russia since February 2023.

Prosecutors alleged that Sidorkina began corresponding with representatives from the Freedom of Russia Legion in 2023 “via an Internet messenger”, before applying to join the unit as a medical or administrative worker. An FSB press release also previously claimed that she transmitted sensitive information about Russian “defence industry facilities” located in Mari El to Ukrainian intelligence services.

While it is unclear which industrial sites Sidorkina is accused of sharing information about, one possibility is the Mari Machine-Building Plant — the largest factory in the republic, known for producing missile and air defence systems. According to independent news outlet Mediazona, Sidorkina worked as a driver at the enterprise until 2019.

In January, the republic’s public prosecutor’s office wrote that Sidorkina “intended to cross the Russian state border with her child to go over to the enemy side, but was stopped by border service officers while attempting to leave the country”. However, the video accompanying the FSB press release that announced her arrest on 30 October shows her to be in Mari El, some 1,000 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

It is unclear who has taken guardianship of Sidorkina’s 10-year-old daughter, whom she had raised by herself until being detained.