A Moscow court sentenced Severtsov Institute senior researcher Sofya Rozenfeld to 3.5 years in a penal colony on Oct. 7, 2026. Mediazona’s courtroom report said the case concerned two 1,000-ruble transfers to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in 2021.
Mediazona’s reporter at the Oct. 7, 2026, hearing said one transfer was made in August and the other in September, and that Rozenfeld was taken into custody in court. Memorial’s case entry also lists the sentence and says her appeal is pending.
Rozenfeld acknowledged setting up recurring donations but denied intending to finance extremism, Mediazona reported. She told the court she was on a long scientific expedition without communications and canceled the subscription after learning of FBK’s status. Her lawyers submitted a letter asking the foundation to stop the recurring payments, the outlet reported.
The prosecutor sought a five-year term, while Rozenfeld asked for a sentence without imprisonment, Mediazona reported. “When I decided to start supporting FBK, I was guided solely by the fight against corruption,” she told the court.
The Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences lists Rozenfeld in its bird-ringing information center. Institute records describe her research on waterfowl populations, migration routes and conservation in the Northern Palearctic. Its archive describes her and pilot Georgy Kirtaev conducting aerial goose surveys in Yakutia in a small amphibious plane. In an interview republished by the institute, Rozenfeld said migratory birds cross national borders and need international monitoring and cooperation.
Moscow City Court ordered FBK liquidated on June 9, 2021. The Prosecutor General’s Office said the ruling took effect Aug. 4, 2021, after an appeal was rejected, and described the case as connected to extremist activity.
In an Oct. 20, 2026, report, Mediazona said it knew of more than 10 similar cases involving researchers that had reached Moscow courts in the previous six months. The outlet reported that the defendants did not want publicity. Memorial lists Rozenfeld at Moscow’s Remand Prison No. 6 and says her appeal remains pending.
