Russian lawyer says she was duped into admitting to contact with Ukrainian secret service

A Russian lawyer on trial for alleged ties to Ukraine’s secret service has filed a complaint against her state-appointed lawyer, Telegram news channel SOTAvision reported on Thursday, citing her current lawyer Ilya Sidorov.

Kaliningrad-based lawyer Maria Bontsler, one of the few lawyers in the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea willing to defend political prisoners, claims Vadim Zavalishin duped her into signing a statement that she had engaged in correspondence with an agent of Ukraine’s secret services, the SBU.

Zavalishin asked Bontsler if she had corresponded with unknown persons in August and September 2024. She answered in the affirmative and signed the statement. It was not uncommon for Bontsler to exchange messages with someone she didn’t know personally in the course of her work as a defence lawyer, according to SOTAvision.

Bontsler said that she didn’t remember the content of the alleged correspondence or even corresponding with the person the security forces claimed was a representative of the Ukrainian secret services. Neither Bontsler nor Sidorov has been shown the messages.

Security forces detained Bontsler and searched her house on 28 May. The following day, she was charged with transferring data about Russian security forces to foreign secret services and placed in pretrial detention. According to the investigation, Bontsler had corresponded on Telegram with an SBU officer, whom Russian security forces have identified as Dyachuk, between 1 August 2024 and 30 September 2024, Sidorov told SOTAvision.

According to Sidorov, the administration at the Kaliningrad detention centre where Bontsler is currently being held stops her meeting her defence team, forges evidence and throws away her food. She is also not given medication she needs and her high blood pressure is ignored. Her health has begun to deteriorate as a result.

In June, Bontsler fell ill during a court hearing which she attended via video link from detention. In July, she was hospitalised while attending a meeting regarding an extension to her arrest. Bontsler was handcuffed to her bed at night while in hospital. She was returned to pretrial detention earlier this month.