A pensioner from Syktyvkar was sentenced to 9 years for transfers to the movement of Vyacheslav Maltsev through DonationAlerts

Judge of the 1st Western District Court in St. Petersburg, Alexey Olmezov, sentenced 54-year-old Irina Mashkaleva, a pensioner from Syktyvkar, to 9 years in a general regime colony in the case of financing a terrorist organization (Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code). Mediazona became aware of this.

Mashkaleva was also awarded a fine of 300 thousand rubles. Prosecutor Anna Govera asked for 10 years in prison and a 200 thousand ruble fine.

During the debate, Mashkaleva insisted that she was not the one who made the transfers - according to her, the woman lost her bank card three times, and that’s where the transfers came from.

In her last word she said: “Your Honor, I do not admit my guilt. I ask you to justify me!”

The woman was accused of making transfers totaling 22,425.16 rubles through the DonationAlerts service in favor of the People's Power movement from 2021 to 2024. Previously, it was the Artpodgotovka movement, which was recognized as terrorist in 2020.

The case file states that as part of the operational investigation, the detective examined Vyacheslav Maltsev’s telegram channel “Revolution” and established publications with links to donations using a “monetization service.”

In court, Mashkaleva insisted that she was not the one who made the transfers - according to her, the woman lost her bank card three times and saw that small amounts were written off from her at night. According to the woman, she also restored the card three times. Bank certificates from the case materials did not confirm this.

Mashkaleva said that she knows nothing about “Artpodgotovka” or “Democracy”, and of the people she knows, only her neighbor has the surname Maltsev.

Mashkaleva has been in pretrial detention since January 16; she participated in the hearing via video link from the Syktyvkar City Court.

In court they tried to interrogate Mashkaleva’s mother and son, but both did not testify and refused the words they said to the investigator during interrogation. Then they both talked about Mashkaleva’s “protests and revolutionary” views, her support for FBK and Vyacheslav Maltsev, as well as her love for edged weapons. According to them, she called the war in Ukraine “occupation” and communicated with relatives from the Zaporozhye region.

In court, Mashkaleva’s son Konstantin Tumalanov said that he slandered her because of “strained relations.” The defendant’s mother, Tamara Mozhegova, said that during the interrogation she was “in a state of insanity” and was angry because the security forces broke down the door to her apartment.

Mashkaleva herself confirmed that she has strained relations with her relatives, and the collection of knives is her hobby since childhood, which “has nothing to do with the matter.” She lost contact with her relatives from Ukraine after the start of the war. She did not admit guilt.