A Samara artist received a 20-year prison sentence for "treason" and "possession of explosives."

According to investigators, in September 2022 Irina Izmailova entered She contacted representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence services and began carrying out their instructions. This included making at least 0,25 grams of homemade explosive—acetone peroxide—at home and bringing two electric detonators from Turkey. Investigators believe this was intended for sabotage in the Samara region.

Izmailova was detained in September 2023. During a multi-hour search of her apartment, conducted without a lawyer present, security forces discovered "traces of acetone peroxide." She was then "defended" by a state-appointed lawyer, who was subsequently stripped of his attorney's status "for soliciting his services through an investigator."

Izmailova refused the services of lawyers from human rights organizations: according to one version, FSB officers convinced the artist that these lawyers could poison her.

In the end she confessed in that she followed the instructions of the Ukrainian special services and even tried to make an explosive device, but then “came to her senses and destroyed everything.” 

Despite this, Izmailova's relatives believe the explosives were planted during the search. They attribute the criminal prosecution to her anti-war stance.

Until 2022, artist Irina Izmailova and her boyfriend Alexander Kudashev She worked in environmental education: she told people about the benefits of waste separation and ran charitable projects to collect waste paper and plastic.

After the war with Ukraine began, Izmailova and Kudashev traveled to Moldova, where they assisted Ukrainian refugees. Kudashev later joined the Russian Volunteer Corps and fought on the Ukrainian side (he was killed in May 2025 during an artillery attack).

The prosecution requested a 24-year prison sentence for 36-year-old Irina Izmaylova. Court appointed 20 years and a fine of 250 thousand rubles.