Fears are growing of an anti-war Russian model being held by Vladimir Putin’s FSB security service.
Nadezhda Rossinskaya, 27, was detained on a train and taken for questioning on suspicion of ‘threatening the security of the Russian state’.
She is now in custody in Belgorod, a region bordering Ukraine that has seen several rocket attacks from Kiev in recent months as President Zelensky’s forces sought to disrupt Russian supply chains.
Her sister Elena Egorova was also held in her apartment for unclear reasons.
Model and photographer Nadezhda, also known as Nadine Geisler, helped Ukrainian refugees stranded in Russia.
She collected humanitarian aid and allowed some Ukrainians to return home through a single functioning checkpoint.
The FSB is investigating her over an alleged call to financially support and raise money for the Ukrainian military, reports claim.
She faces seven years in prison if convicted, according to her lawyer Yevgeny Sokolov.
Belgorod volunteer Nadezhda Rossinskaya (Nadine Geisler) has been detained by Vladimir Putin’s FSB after assisting Ukrainian refugees in the Belgorod border region
Elena Egorova, (L) sister of the Belgorod volunteer Nadezhda Rossinskaya (Nadine Geisler) (R) was also held in her flat by the FSB security service
Model and photographer Nadezhda, also known as Nadine Geisler, helped Ukrainian refugees stranded in Russia
Nadezhda was previously fined for handing out flowers while dressed in the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine, but the fine was reportedly later overturned.
A year ago, she posted a dramatic photo of her face covered in crimson paint to simulate blood as she spoke of her anguish over the horrors of war.
“Bodies without documents lie in the morgue while their relatives wait for news on the other side of the tape,” she said.
She also posted: ‘The children (refugees) have not taken off their sheepskin sweaters and coats for three days now in an apartment with heating at maximum temperature.
“(They) won’t easily forget the cold cellar, but they can’t warm their souls.”
She revealed a woman called her and said: ‘My husband passed away two hours ago…
‘Can you go there? Can you find out where he was buried? I’ll definitely visit there one day.’
Later the widow said to her, ‘Sorry, I’ve been drinking. My husband died. I don’t want to live anymore.’
She also told of a tragic story about a teenager who died while fleeing the war, and his mother who later hanged herself upon hearing the news.
She said, “All these stories are tattooed on the subcortex of my brain.
‘Thanks to them you can no longer go outside and look at people’s normal lives.
“Half an hour’s drive… there are grenades and death, there is hunger, pain, cold and fear.”
Last summer she helped victims of the Dnipro flood caused by Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
First responders provide first aid to an injured person after the Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, January 23, 2024
Ukrainian rescue and aid workers visit the site of a rocket attack in Kharkov on January 23, 2024
Nadezhda was previously fined for handing out flowers while dressed in the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine, although this was reportedly later revoked
Elena Egorova, sister of Belgorod volunteer Nadezhda Rossinskaya
Criticizing what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine has effectively been a crime in Russia since the day it began almost two years ago, but a new bill aims to make the penalties for doing so even harsher.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech in support of the war in Ukraine
News of the sisters’ detention comes as Russia’s parliament considers new legislation that would give the state the power to seize the property of people convicted of defaming the armed forces.
Criticizing what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine has effectively been a crime in Russia since the day it began almost two years ago, but the new bill aims to make the penalties for doing so even harsher.
It would allow the state to seize the property of Russians who have left the country and criticized the war, but who still rely on income from renting their houses or apartments in Russia.
The move has drawn comparisons to the 1930s witch hunts under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin with their “enemy of the state” rhetoric, and could have ramifications for thousands of Russians who have spoken out against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Speaker of the Duma’s lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has called the new bill “the villain law.”
“Anyone who tries to destroy Russia, betrays it, must be published accordingly and compensate the damage to the country in the form of his property,” he said this weekend as he announced the tabling of the bill.