Irina Bystrova is an artist and educator from Karelia. She had been teaching drawing classes for children at her own art studio. The beginning of the Ukrainian “special operation” was a true shock to her. Following February 24, 2022, Irina published several harsh posts about the Russian military and President Putin on her VKontakte page.

These posts provided grounds for two criminal cases at once. On the morning of March 23, 2022, law enforcement officers conducted a search in Ms. Bystrova’s apartment, which she had been sharing with her 83-year-old mother. The police seized all of the technical equipment. Irina was taken in for questioning at a Federal Security Service office, where she was charged with “dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” (article 207.3, part 1) and “justification of terrorism” (article 205.2, part 2). The educator spent the night before the trial in a detention center.

The trial took place on March 24, 2022. The court prohibited Irina from attending public events, using the internet and talking to journalists. Despite the situation, the woman continued to offer classes at her art studio: Bystrova’s elderly mother required care and medical treatment.

A new development in the artist’s case happened in early June. The investigator called into question Ms. Bystrova’s “sanity” and sent her for forensic psychiatric evaluation. Since June 9 Irina has remained at the Psychiatric Hospital for the Republic of Karelia in the town of Matrossy. Should the doctors find the woman “insane”, the jail sentence will be replaced by compulsory psychiatric treatment.