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April 23 - A woman residing in an area of southern Ukraine under Russian control was found guilty of treason and given a 14-year prison term after purchasing war bonds intended to support the Ukrainian military, the court that delivered the verdict said on Thursday.
Details of the case
The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia District Court said the defendant used a Ukrainian mobile application to buy bonds with a face value of 270,080 roubles, a sum the court converted to roughly $3,600. The court statement said the woman was detected by the FSB security service. In its public announcement the court identified her only by the initial B and described her as a Russian citizen.
Identification by rights group
Human rights organisation Memorial, which the Russian authorities this month designated as an extremist movement, named the woman as 66-year-old Larisa Belyayeva and said she is a doctor from the village of Lyubimovka. The court, however, had used only the initial B in its statement.
Context on war bonds
Ukraine began issuing war bonds in February 2022, immediately after the full-scale invasion, for the stated purpose of funding its defence effort. The bonds have been promoted domestically as a patriotic form of investment, and the yields advertised include up to 17.45% for bonds denominated in Ukrainian hryvnia and more than 4% for dollar-denominated issues.
Local status and citizenship
The court's announcement also comes against a backdrop in which people living in territories captured by Russian forces have, in practice, been required to accept Russian citizenship if they wish to keep access to state services. According to the information cited by the court, residents in those areas have effectively had to take Russian citizenship to retain access to healthcare, pensions and property rights.
Financial note
The court's conversion used an exchange rate of $1 = 74.9000 roubles to contextualise the rouble amount in dollars.
This article reports the court's statements and the identification made by Memorial without further attribution. It does not add information beyond the accounts provided by those sources.