Samara artist and environmental activist Irina Izmailova has been charged with producing acetone peroxide according to instructions from a “curator from the SBU” (part 1 Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code). Lawyer Evgenia Ryzhkova told Mediazona about this.
The investigation is being conducted by the FSB department for the Samara region. As the defender notes, the FSB insists that at the beginning of May 2023, the environmental activist made acetone peroxide at home, which can be used as an initiating explosive. The remains of the substance—weighing 0.25 grams—were discovered several months later at Izmailova’s home; a search took place on September 1. According to the FSB, the girl made acetone peroxide using dry alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid.
During interrogation, Izmailova said that she made the substance according to the instructions of “her curator, an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine” named Vitaly. It was planned that later Izmailova would produce a larger batch of the substance “to be transferred to persons unknown to her through a hiding place” in Samara, and it would be used in “sabotage activities.”
The activist admitted her guilt in the criminal case, notes Ryzhkov’s lawyer.
According to her, the case materials indicate that Izmailova adheres to “radical pro-Ukrainian ideology” and that she has connections with the Ukrainian intelligence services. The investigation claims that during the search the girl tried to hide her mobile phones and deleted the account through which she received instructions for preparing explosives.
Recyclable materials for the FSB. The girl of an RDK fighter fighting in Ukraine was arrested in Samara — the FSB has not allowed her lawyer to participate in the case for a month already.
34-year-old Irina Izmailova is the girlfriend of Samara activist Alexander Kudashev, who in the summer of 2023 joined the ranks of the RDK and is now fighting on the side of Ukraine.
Izmailova and Kudashev worked on the “Recyclables for Charity” project before the war. Volunteers collected waste paper, plastic, glass batteries and other raw materials, and also cleaned the banks of the Volga. In addition, they also engaged in educational work on the topic of separate waste collection.
The artist and environmental activist was detained on September 1 and placed in a pre-trial detention center. On October 31, Izmailova’s period of detention was extended, said Evgenia Ryzhkova. In mid-November, the Solidarity Zone reported that the FSB was trying to persuade the environmental activist to reach a pre-trial agreement, but Izmailova refused.