A Gelendzhik resident has been accused of justifying terrorism and espionage.

A military court in Rostov-on-Don will hear the case of a Gelendzhik resident accused of involvement in a terrorist organization, public justification of terrorism, and espionage.

The defendant is 35 years old, and her case was investigated by officers from the FSB Directorate for the Krasnodar Territory.

According to the prosecution, on May 17, 2024, the woman, while at work, posted a "comment justifying terrorism" from her mobile phone in an open chat room of a public online community. In connection with this incident, she has been charged under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code for promoting terrorism online, which carries a sentence of five to seven years in prison.

Between July 1 and 31, 2024, the woman, according to security officials, established contact with a representative of a Ukrainian paramilitary group designated as terrorist in Russia. She communicated with this individual, who was supposed to recruit Russians and organize their "departure to Ukrainian territory," "using a mobile phone" while in Gelendzhik. Participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Russian Criminal Code) carries a sentence of ten to twenty years in prison.

On January 18, 2025, the woman sent "screenshots of several documents" she had made "while at work" to the same "representative of a terrorist organization," the Krasnodar Krai Prosecutor's Office reported today on its official Telegram channel.

Although the woman is identified in the agency's statement as a resident of Gelendzhik, according to one of the charges, she does not have Russian citizenship. The espionage article (Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code, which carries a prison sentence of ten to twenty years) applies only to foreigners and stateless persons; Russians are charged with treason for similar actions. The prosecutor's office did not specify the defendant's citizenship or where she worked in its press release.

The case has been sent to the Southern District Military Court for trial. As of 5:40 p.m. Moscow time today, the court's public records do not contain any case file matching the prosecutor's description. Caucasian Knot reported that in early March, Romanian citizen Adrian-David Kercho was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage in Kuban. The sentence was handed down by the Krasnodar Regional Court.