Zotova Svetlana Aleksandrovna

In Yaroslavl in March 2023, Svetlana Zotova, the mother of Valeria Zotova, who was accused of intending to set fire to a supply warehouse from which goods are sent to provide military personnel participating in the war against Ukraine, was charged with "public calls for extremist and terrorist activities." The reason for the criminal prosecution was comments allegedly posted by Svetlana Zotova to posts from the Telegram channels "Fighter Anarchist" and "Ukraine 24/7. According to the investigation, one of the comments approves of the bombing of the Crimean Bridge, and the other two state the futility of peaceful protests and the need to overthrow the authorities. According to the decision to open a criminal case, the posts were made from an account linked to the number of Zotova's old phone, which was seized during a search in connection with her daughter's case. Zotov denies authorship of the comments and says that during the interrogation she was not allowed to familiarize herself with the content of the comments. During the investigation, Svetlana Zotova was under house arrest. On December 6, 2023, the 2nd Western District Military Court found Svetlana Zotova guilty and sentenced her to a fine of 350 thousand. rubles. Also, the court prohibited Zotova from administering websites on the Internet for a period of 2 years and obligated her to visit a psychiatrist on an outpatient basis monthly. On March 20, 2024, the Appellate Military Court reduced the punishment to 330 thousand. rubles.