Bulgarian Woman Sentenced to Three Years in Prison in Russia

Bulgarian national Rositsa Georgieva, a resident of Russia’s Volgograd region, has been detained and convicted, according to reports from OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights Telegram channel on September 25.

A criminal case was opened against Georgieva on charges of “justifying terrorism,” based on comments she allegedly posted in March and November 2024 under publications about the activities of the “Russian Volunteer Corps,” which fights within the ranks of the Ukrainian army.

On 9 September 2025, a court in Volgograd sentenced her to three years in a general-regime penal colony. According to the outlet, the verdict has not yet entered into force.

OVD-Info notes that it is unclear when the criminal proceedings were initiated. However, in December last year she underwent what the outlet described as a “series of arrests,” having been detained twice on administrative charges of disobeying police orders and petty hooliganism.

On 9 December she was sentenced to 13 days’ detention, and on 21 December she was arrested again for a further 10 days on the second charge.