Authorities in Kabarda–Balkaria accuse Middle Eastern woman of extremism

Authorities in the Russian republic of Kabarda–Balkaria have charged a 26-year-old woman, originally from the Middle East, with financing an extremist organisation banned in Russia. The woman’s specific country of origin was not mentioned.

According to a statement from the republic’s Interior Ministry on Tuesday, the woman was detained in Nalchik by police officers and members of the National Guard.

Investigators allege that the suspect made at least 16 financial transfers to a non-profit organisation whose activities had been declared extremist and outlawed by a Russian court. The name of the woman and the specific organisation involved have not been officially disclosed. However, the ministry noted that the suspect was aware of the ban on the organisation in Russia but continued to provide it with funding.

A local court placed the woman under house arrest pending investigation. She is being prosecuted on charges of financing extremist activities, which carries a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison.

The woman’s arrest comes amid consistently high levels of law enforcement activity related to so-called ‘extremist’ offences. According to official figures from the Judicial Department of Russia’s Supreme Court, more than 500 people were convicted under extremist-related articles in 2024 alone.

Human rights groups, including the now-banned and foreign-agent-labelled organisation Memorial, have also noted a growing number of cases involving financial support to banned groups.

In February 2025, Kabarda–Balkaria’s regional Federal Security Service (FSB) office reported the opening of a criminal case against a 49-year-old resident of the village of Chegem Vtoroy, who allegedly transferred more than ₽1.9 million ($24,000) to members of international terrorist organisations located outside Russia.

Prior to that, in May 2024, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don convicted Rezvan Shogenov and Batoki Mavrshenkulov, both residents of Kabarda–Balkaria, of financing the Syrian militant group Jabhat al-Nusra, designated as a terrorist organisation in Russia. They were sentenced to eight and a half and nine years in a strict-regime penal colony, with the first three years to be served in prison.

In May 2022, a court in Kabarda–Balkaria sentenced siblings Lianna and Askerbiy Khamukov to 16.5 and 18 years, respectively, for allegedly financing terrorism and aiding militants. Their lawyer stated at the time that the charges stemmed from donations to a charitable fund called One Body, and that the authorities had no proof the money was used to support terrorist groups.

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OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova