Valeria Zotova
A resident of Yaroslavl. On the evening of 16th of February 2023, she left home, telling her mother that she was going out with friends. Afterwards, her mother did not see her. At about 1 a.m. law enforcers came to the flat with a search, without introducing themselves or informing about the grounds for investigative actions. Later it became known that Valeria is in custody. A Telegram channel affiliated with local law enforcers published a video in which Zotova, stammering, says that she gave the coordinates and photos of buildings "where [there are] [collection points for aid to mobilised] AFU" for seven thousand rubles. During the "confession" the girl repeatedly asks the person on the other side of the camera what exactly she should say. Later, Valeria's mother told the publication "7×7" that on the day of detention her daughter was beaten, held in the snow in a T-shirt and without socks, put face down in the snow, and threatened with a stun gun. Zotova Sr. [told](https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/03/30/khot-ubeite-otritsatelno-otnoshus-k-svo) "Novaya.Europa" that her daughter was indeed in correspondence with a certain Andrei, who claimed to be in the AFU and asked her to set fire to a "railway cabinet" or leave a certain bag in a specified location for a reward. Valeria refused. Her mother considers the criminal case to be the result of provocation by the FSB. A publication in the Telegram channel claims that Zotova "grew up in a dysfunctional family" and "was a drug addict". Valeria's mother told OVD-Info that neither the family nor the girl had ever been on the relevant registers, and her daughter ended up in a rehabilitation centre because she left home several times without permission. In October, Zotova Sr. was fined under Russia's article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) because of the graffiti "No to war" on one of the local kiosks. During the search, law enforcers threatened to make her a suspect in her daughter's case, claiming that she had participated in anti-war demonstrations. In a post on the Yaroslavl LIVE public group, someone whom the authors of the publication call a friend of Valeria Zotova claims that the boyfriend of the arrested woman is fighting in Ukraine on the side of the Russian army. Zotova's mother said that her daughter and the man in question have broken up. On 28 June 2023, Valeria Zotova was sentenced to six years in a penal colony. Zotova complained about pressure in the pre-trial detention centre. Zotova's mother said that her daughter complained about the Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS) officer Natalia, who accused the girl of driving her cellmate to suicide, told her "people like you are not welcomed here" and offered cigarettes to other prisoners in exchange for compromising information about Zotova. During the visit, her daughter complained to Svetlana Zotova that the FPS officer tried to hit her. After that Svetlana wrote a letter to Valeria, in which she told about her plans to go to the head of the pre-trial detention centre with complaints, but in response she received a message: "At the moment it is impossible to deliver the letter, we are not informed about the reasons for the delay (investigative actions, punishment cell, TDF)". There was made an attempt to force Zotova's cellmates to testify against her in the suicide case. They refused and were also sent to the disciplinary cell. In February 2024, it became known that Zotova was experiencing constant pain in her back and gums, but she was not receiving medical assistance. Later it was reported that she was charged because of a torn off tag, even though the tag was torn off by a colony's worker. In August 2024, Zotova's mother said that Valeria was offered to report on other prisoners, she refused, and some time later in the facility began the spread of rumors about her alleged drug addiction.