Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained the head of an organisation that assists Ukrainian refugees in the southern Russian city of Belgorod on Thursday, Telegram channel 7x7 reported.
Nadezhda Rossinskaya, who heads NGO Army of Beauties, has been charged with “public calls for action against state security”, following allegations that she called for donations to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in social media posts.
Rossinskaya founded Army of Beauties following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to help Ukrainian refugees return home from Russia via the only remaining open checkpoint between Russia and Ukraine in Kolotilovka, in the Belgorod region.
Police officers detained Nadezhda Rossinskaya’s sister, Novaya Europe has learned.
A source familiar with the situation told Novaya Europe that Alyona, the sister of Nadezhda Rossinskaya, was detained by police officers in the morning. Rossinskaya heads NGO Army of Beauties and was charged with “public calls for action against state security” earlier today. The reason for Alyona’s detention is unknown.
Nadezhda Rossinskaya. Photo: Social media
Despite leaving Russia in May to live in Georgia, Rossinskaya was detained on Thursday while aboard a train in Belgorod, although it’s unclear how or when she re-entered the country. Telegram channel Pepel suggested that she may have returned to help transport dogs evacuated from kennels in the Russian occupied city of Mariupol.
In May 2022, Rossinskaya was fined for handing out flowers to passersby whilst dressed in blue and yellow, the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Journalist Tatyana Grigoryeva told 7x7 that Rossinskaya had not been involved in political activism since.
According to 7x7, Rossinskaya was a model and photographer before the war, whilst also fostering animals on the side. Last summer Rossinskaya helped stranded Ukrainians after a flood in Kherson, according to Telegram channel Astra.
