A Russian student artist has been sentenced to nine years in prison on treason charges for sending $30 to the Ukrainian army, the independent Mediazona news website reported Thursday, citing the court’s press service.
Tatiana Laletina, 21, was arrested in the Siberian city of Tomsk in late February and charged with state treason, a crime punishable by 12-20 years in prison.
The Tomsk Regional Court found Laletina guilty on June 28 following a closed trial, handing her a sentence below the minimum requirement.
“I went back to my cell and rejoiced with happiness. Only nine years!” Laletina told her unidentified friend in a letter that she gave permission to share with the Telegram news channel Govorit NeMoskva.
Citing the letter, the news outlet reported that Laletina was initially accused of donating $10 to a Ukrainian fund on the first day of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. FSB agents broke into her phone and found out about another $20 donation in April 2022, Govorit NeMoskva reported.
“That’s how a 19-year-old me helped a 21-year-old me get into such a difficult life situation,” Laletina wrote to her friend.
It was not immediately clear whether or not Laletina had pleaded guilty to the charges, Mediazona wrote.
Govorit NeMoskva reported that Laletina saw footage of her arrest aired on Russian television while she was in pre-trial detention.
Her lawyer and mother declined to comment on the case to Mediazona.
Laletina is a native of the Far East republic of Kamchatka who had been studying early childhood education for two years at the Tomsk State Pedagogical University before her arrest.
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