The ruling was announced by the Moscow courts' press service, Mediazona reported. The charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
According to the investigation, Krotova contacted staff of the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises and the Church of Spiritual Technology (the Ron Hubbard Library) in 2021 and became their representative in Moscow. Over five years, the investigation alleges, she held meetings at the fund's premises in Moscow and in other Russian cities.
Citing TASS, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that Krotova is suspected of drawing Russians into a Scientology organization.
Krotova has run the fund since 2018. Until 2024 she owned Vysotremstroy Vais, a company specializing in finishing work, according to Unified State Register of Legal Entities data. In 2021 she and Sergei Krotov were awarded Interior Ministry medals "30 Years of Service in Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking."
The arrest followed searches at the homes of Scientologists in more than ten Russian regions, Novaya Gazeta Europe wrote. Police broke into the apartments and offices of alleged followers of the movement and detained them. The exact number of those detained is unknown. Sources at the pro-government outlet Izvestia said the searches were connected to the work of the "Protect Children from Drugs and Alcohol" fund.
The Prosecutor General's Office designated the L. Ron Hubbard Library and the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises as "undesirable" in the autumn of 2021. In December 2024 the Scientology Church of St. Petersburg was added to the list of "extremist organizations."