Moscow authorities have opened a criminal case on high treason charges against Svetlana Golovatenko, a Russian citizen who had been living in Kyiv for over a decade. The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow ordered her detention in a pre-trial facility, Mediazona reported.
Golovatenko, born in the village of Severoonezhsk in the Arkhangelsk region, had resided in Kyiv for more than ten years, working as a nail technician. She held a residence permit in Ukraine. Her mother, father, and younger brother live in Russia.
On April 23, Golovatenko flew to Russia via Georgia. She was detained in the arrivals area of Moscow's Vnukovo Airport and the next day sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest for petty hooliganism. Seven similar administrative protocols were subsequently filed against her, with cases heard in courts including those in the Kaluga region. She received her latest 15-day arrest term on August 4.
The treason case appears to have been opened after that arrest term expired, according to Mediazona. The specific grounds for the prosecution are not yet known.