A Russian official faces up to 25 years in jail for withdrawing £885 in cash “to help Ukraine stage a wartime sabotage attack”.
Viktoria Shinkaruk, 28, is accused of acting as a Ukrainian agent by placing most of the money in a garbage container at a supermarket “for use by terrorists” working for kyiv.
She denies the charge, saying she withdrew the money at her husband’s request, earning a small commission for doing so, and that she had no knowledge of its intended purpose or intention to commit a terrorist offence.
Her husband, Evgeny Kisel, 35, had previously escaped house arrest and fled to relatives in Ukraine fearing a 10-year jail sentence on drug charges.
Shinkaruk, who was seen handcuffed to a female police officer, now faces trial in a Moscow military court and could be jailed for a quarter of a century if convicted under Russia’s draconian new anti-terror laws.
Former Russian official from Belgorod region Viktoria Shinkaruk, 28, faces up to 25 years in prison for “supporting terrorists”
Shinkaruk is seen in court after her arrest.
She denies the accusation, saying she withdrew the money at her husband’s request.
Shinkaruk is pictured at the Military Court of the Second Western District of Moscow
Shinkaruk’s accomplice Alexander Kholodkov, pictured
“Viktoria Shinkaruk participated in a terrorist community with the aim of carrying out a terrorist attack,” police sources told state news agency TASS.
She was a state inspector in the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, until she was fired following her arrest.
Her co-accused, Alexander Kholodkov, allegedly withdrew a larger sum – more than £3,300 – at her husband’s request and dumped it into the same bin in the city of Belgorod.
He is also alleged to have “moved explosive devices to hidden locations.”
Russian authorities say the money was intended for unidentified members of a criminal group to carry out a terrorist bombing in the early months of the war.
“They used messaging apps Signal and Telegram to communicate with their contacts in Ukraine,” TASS reported.
‘Following his instructions, Kholodkov placed explosives and cash necessary to carry out a terrorist attack in caches.’
However, after two years of investigations, prosecutors have been unable to identify the alleged saboteurs or the Ukrainian controllers, nor to identify where the alleged terrorist attack would take place.
Shinkaruk has been held in the notorious Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre for 22 months awaiting the start of her trial.
Her relatives say she was following her husband’s instructions in moving the money, but no mercy is expected from the court.
A male relative said: ‘I’m sure she would not have deliberately gone against Russia.
‘She is a calm, sensible person and she is not crazy.
“I think her husband set her up with the money transfer. She simply believed his words.
“They have been married for about six years. He is still her husband.”
Shinkaruk’s relatives say she was following her husband’s instructions in moving the money, but no mercy is expected from the court.
Russian authorities say the money was intended for unidentified members of a criminal group to carry out a terrorist bomb attack.
Victory pictured at the Military Court of the Second Western District of Moscow
Shinkaruk has been held in the notorious Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre for 22 months awaiting the start of her trial.
Her relatives say she was following her husband’s instructions in moving the money, but no mercy is expected from the court.
A friend said: “I don’t think she could do anything against the country.”
“She’s a very intelligent girl, very attractive, and in all the time we’ve talked I’ve never heard her say anything dubious. She loves our country.”
Another friend, Sergei, told the Regnum news agency: ‘I think her husband brainwashed her by telling her that the money would supposedly help him avoid a criminal case.
‘She was a fool and just wanted to help.
“Now she could lose her youth, the opportunity to start a family (by being locked up in prison).”
Both are accused of illegal trafficking in explosives, smuggling of goods and resources of strategic importance committed by an organized group, participation in a terrorist group, preparation of a terrorist act by a group of persons through prior conspiracy and preparation for the illegal manufacture of explosives.
Russia presents sabotage attacks committed by Ukraine in Russia as terrorism, even though it was Moscow that started the war in February 2022.
