Elena Popova
Resident of Rostov-on-Don, she was employed by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In September 2023, she was detained and then arrested for 10 days under the administrative article on disorderly conduct (Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences). After that she was arrested twice under the same article immediately after leaving the detention center — the first time also for 10 days, the other time for 15. At the same time, according to the website of the "First Department", the protocols stated that she "swore loudly and used profanities" and "clasped her hands" in places located at a significant distance from the detention center. At the end of her third arrest, Popova was charged with treason for transferring seven thousand rubles to an account published by blogger Arkady Babchenko on 27 February 2022. Earlier, even before the arrests, she had been interviewed by the police about this transfer. Popova was taken into custody. Later it became known that the case includes the testimony of a certain secret witness, who provided her negative performance review from her employer. On 30 October 2024, Popova was sentenced to 12 years in a general regime penal colony.