ASTRA: Russia sentences father, daughter over treason, attempt to join Ukrainian forces PHOTO

A Russian military court has sentenced a 19-year-old woman to seven years in a penal colony over an alleged attempt to leave Russia and fight for Ukraine, according to the independent Russian outlet ASTRA.

The Southern District Military Court sentenced Olga Mishanina to seven years in a general-regime colony, ASTRA reported.

Her father, Dmitry Mishanin, was sentenced in August to 18 years in prison after being convicted of high treason and involvement with a terrorist organisation. He is to serve the first three years in prison and the remainder in a strict-regime penal colony.

Mishanina and her father were detained by Russian security forces in August 2025. Both were initially given 10-day administrative detention sentences by a court in Sochi. Mishanina was subsequently placed under administrative detention at least twice more, while her father was detained administratively three more times.

According to investigators, Mishanina applied to join a banned organisation and continued corresponding about travelling from Russia to Ukraine in order to sign a contract to serve in the Ukrainian armed forces.

The FSB published correspondence between Mishanina and an alleged handler, but the name of the organisation was obscured. Memorial said it could have been the Freedom of Russia Legion, which Russian authorities designated as a terrorist organisation in 2023.

The FSB said the father and daughter had begun communicating with a representative of an unnamed Ukrainian organisation while in Abkhazia.

In an FSB video, Dmitry Mishanin said he wanted to leave Russia to fight on Ukraine's side but was unable to do so because of debts. He also said he had passed on air-defence coordinates and carried out underground activities.

In 2024, the Irkutsk Region Arbitration Court declared Mishanin bankrupt, noting that he owed VTB Bank more than 1.8 million roubles.

Russian security forces also accused the father and daughter of collecting information about serving members of the Russian armed forces.

The FSB announced their detention only in December 2025.

Mishanin is currently being held at a pre-trial detention centre in Rostov-on-Don, while his daughter is being held at a detention centre in Novocherkassk in the Rostov Region, according to the latest information.

By Aghakazim Guliyev