The Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow took 50-year-old Sofya Rosenfeld into custody in the courtroom itself. Prosecutors had sought five years in a penal colony; the sentence handed down was a year and a half lighter, T-invariant reported.
The scientist was accused of financing an "extremist" organization. The case concerned two transfers of 1,000 rubles each to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), sent in August and September 2021. The FBK was designated an extremist organization by a Moscow City Court ruling of 9 June 2021, which took effect on 4 August, after which donations to the foundation began to be treated as possible financing of extremist activity. The charge carries penalties ranging from a fine and forced labor to imprisonment of three to eight years.
Rosenfeld pleaded guilty only in part. In court, she stated that she categorically did not admit either that she shared extremist views or that she had criminal intent. According to her, when she began supporting the FBK, she was guided solely by considerations of fighting corruption and believed that any public assistance in that cause would be needed.
Rosenfeld confirmed that she had set up a recurring donation subscription. When the foundation was designated an extremist organization, she was on a long scientific expedition without communications, and upon returning she immediately canceled the subscription. Her lawyers entered into the case file a letter from Rosenfeld asking the foundation to cancel the monthly payments, but this did not affect the court's decision.
The criminal case against the scientist became known on December 5, 2025, shortly after her return from Israel, where she had been visiting her father. According to Boris Rosenfeld, his daughter returned to Moscow in the twenties of November, and the very next day or the day after, officers came to search her home and took a written undertaking not to leave, while leaving her passports and taking copies of them. During the search, security forces seized a phone and two laptops.
A friend of the scientist named Sergei (name changed) says the first hearing was scheduled six months later, but a witness failed to appear and the court postponed it. The next hearing was also postponed, and then the charges were read out. According to him, everything proceeded in a "sweet format": the investigator would call and ask about her health, and nothing foreshadowed a harsh sentence.
Before each hearing, Rosenfeld packed a bag with belongings in case she was taken into custody in the courtroom. According to her father, she did not rule out a real prison term but considered a fine or forced labor more likely, and her lawyers held the same view. Boris Rosenfeld believes there are general instructions in such cases: recently this has been the third instance in which women have been given real prison terms.
Shortly before the final hearing, Rosenfeld was allowed to travel on an expedition beyond the Arctic Circle, to the Polar Urals, where she was tagging muskoxen. A television crew made a report about her. She returned only on October 2.
A friend and fellow student of Rosenfeld, science journalist Ilya Kolmanovsky, says the last time they spoke was a few weeks before the verdict. The scientist was not making plans and was simply waiting to see what would happen next. Hearings followed one after another; she came to each with her belongings packed, but they were postponed.
According to Rosenfeld's friend Anna (name changed), the judge and the prosecution were extremely displeased by the partial admission of guilt. She notes that the scientist had all the evidence that she was on a work trip at the time the FBK was designated an extremist organization: there was confirmation from her institute. But this did not matter to the court: the defense lawyer asked why claims were not being brought against the bank, which had forwarded the payments knowing their status, but the judge "swallowed" that question.