Maria Bontsler
Maria Bontsler, born 1960, Kaliningrad Oblast. Charges: Article 275, Russian Criminal Code (Treason against the state); “Maria Bontsler's case of high treason”. Status: imprisoned. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, July 14, 2025.
In brief
Kaliningrad Oblast · Kaliningrad · Defence attorneys, Lawyers
Sentence
No information about a verdict.
Preventive measure: pre-trial detention since August 4, 2025
Charges
- Article 275, Russian Criminal Code — Treason against the state
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, in 2024, “seeking to obtain the support of the security bodies of a foreign state in resolving issues related to her professional activities, and with the aim of assisting a representative of a foreign state in activities knowingly directed against the security of the Russian Federation, she decided to establish a confidential cooperative relationship with a representative of a foreign state.” “...Through correspondence on Telegram, she established contact with a Ukrainian citizen, Ruslan Aleksandrovich Diachuk (born March 3, 1998), using the username ‘@phantomcrypt’ and identified as an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)…” “...Between August 1, 2024, and September 30, 2024, while in the Kaliningrad region, Bontsler M.V., in the course of correspondence with SBU officer Diachuk R.A., received from him an assignment to collect and provide information about FSB officers who identify and prosecute, in the Kaliningrad region, individuals cooperating confidentially with a foreign state — Ukraine — as well as information about the content of these individuals’ testimony at the pre-trial investigation stage.”
Latest event
August 4, 2025 — preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №1 (SIZO-1) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russian Federation for Kaliningrad Oblast
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, July 14, 2025
Timeline
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №1 (SIZO-1) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russian Federation for Kaliningrad Oblast
· Preventive measure: temporary stay in hospital
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №1 (SIZO-1) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russian Federation for Kaliningrad Oblast
· Persecution begins
Maria Bontsler's case of high treason
· Preventive measure: placement in a temporary detention facility
Criminal case
Maria Bontsler's case of high treason
- Case number
- 2-16/2026
Write a letter
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
236022, г. Калининград, ул. Ушакова, 2-4, ФКУ СИЗО-1 УФСИН России по Калининградской области, Бонцлер Мария Владимировна, 1960 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
Founder and former head of the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of the Kaliningrad Region. Since 2007, she has been practicing as a lawyer. She has defended participants in protest actions, including anti-war ones. She was also the lawyer for Kaliningrad resident Igor Baryshnikov, who was convicted in a criminal case on charges of spreading “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces due to his posts about the war in Ukraine.
On May 28, 2025, a search was conducted at her home, after which Bontsler was detained in a case opened under the article on confidential cooperation with a foreign state, international, or international or foreign organization.
On the same day, law enforcement officers also visited two other Kaliningrad lawyers, Roman Morozov and Ekaterina Selizarova, who had also defended Baryshnikov.
The Investigative Committee claims that in 2024 Bontsler passed information about law enforcement officers in the Kaliningrad region — obtained in the course of her legal work — to the intelligence services of an “unfriendly state.” The agency also claims that the other lawyers visited by security forces were “aware of the suspect’s criminal activities.”
On May 29, 2025, Bontsler was taken into custody.
During a court hearing to appeal the initiation of the case, Bontsler stated that an FSB officer, Kirill Takhtov, had an interest in having her “arrested and imprisoned.” She alleged that he used violence against her and, according to her, had previously used violence against detainees on multiple occasions.
On September 25, 2025, the Kaliningrad Region Bar Association suspended Bontsler's lawyer status.
In March 2026, the investigation reclassified the charges against Bontsler as high treason.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 275, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.