The true story of the Russian woman Varvara Karaulova in an exclusive interview with Channel One: what pushed her under the ISIS flags. The case of Varvara Karaulova: love, Islam and three failed marriages What article does Varvara Karaulova have

A 20-year-old girl is accused of trying to move from Russia to Syria at the end of May 2015 in order to join the Islamic State banned on the territory of the Russian Federation. From point of view Russian laws this falls under Article 205.5, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Participation in the activities of an organization that, in accordance with the law Russian Federation recognized as terrorist. If found guilty, the student could face up to 20 years in prison.

At the court session, Karaulova put on a colorful dress with short sleeves - quite secular, which looked much more modest than the bright clothes in which she had been at the previous session. The defendant was delivered by a regular, not reinforced, police convoy. However, just in case, two special forces soldiers of the bailiff service were on duty in the courtroom. The mother of the defendant Kira, father Pavel Karaulov, and also her grandmother came to the trial. It was noticeable that the parents were very worried: the mother repeatedly had tears in her eyes, and the father spent a significant part of the interrogation, covering his head with his hands. Only the grandmother behaved imperturbably, and by the middle of the meeting she had even fallen asleep.

Two names, one person

Varvara began to speak calmly and in detail about the period of her life that preceded her departure for the Middle East. “In 2012, when I was still at school, I met in social network"VKontakte" with a guy who introduced himself to me as Vlad (later it turned out that his real name was Gazeta.Ru). I found him in a group of football fans of the CSKA team. He told me that he was 21 years old and that he held nationalist views. We argued a lot about it, also discussed football and life in general. After some time, I realized that this correspondence began to mean a lot to me, ”said Karaulova.

According to her,

Gradually, a new online acquaintance began to behave authoritatively, in particular, insisted that she stop communicating with her male friends.

and even with some girls. “He often made me jealous of other guys. We even had a big fight when I added as a friend on VKontakte the person who processed the documents for my admission to the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, ”the girl explained. But despite this, Vlad remained for more than two years the only person with whom she could speak openly on almost any topic.

With her parents, according to Varvara, she had complicated relationship. “After entering the institute, almost all of my time was taken up with study and training - I was actively involved in sports (volleyball, basketball, Thai boxing. - Gazeta.Ru). Vlad brought me to the point that I even stopped saying hello to male people. Then I realized that I need someone in real life to whom I could give my feelings. And then I got a dog named Frankie, who for a long time became my true friend, ”said the defendant. She emphasized that she had already developed a strong feeling for her Internet acquaintance at that time. And then Vlad sent her a photo, saying that it was his image. The photo was of a young man of Slavic appearance.

As Karaulova said, since 2014, the topic of their relationship to Islam appeared in their communication with Vlad, and at first it surprised and even frightened her. However, she did not begin to tell her lover about this, as she was afraid that he would break off all communication with her after that. “He often said that Muslims can learn a lot, that they live in a large friendly community. He also talked about terrorist attacks, in particular, about the explosion at the railway station in Volgograd in 2013 and the events in Beslan in 2004. At the same time, he claimed that either special services or people hiding behind Islam, but not true Muslims, were behind this, that a Muslim would never offend a child, ”Karaulova noted.

The accused said that

from that moment on, her friend refused to communicate with her on topics not related to the Islamic religion.

“And more and more he began to mention,” she added. “He also talked a lot about the view of women in Islam. He argued that the infringement of the rights of women in Islam is all a stereotype. So, step by step, I became interested in this religion in fact,” continued the defendant.

By September 2014, Karaulova finally formed a desire to convert to Islam. True, when she came to the mosque, she, according to the words, was not welcome. But Vlad later told her what to do. Karaulova, with the help of him and his friend, performed a ritual ablution and recited the Shahada, a special prayer for entering Islam. She did not tell her parents about this event.

Two absentee husbands

“Meanwhile, my lover began to prepare for his departure to the Islamic State. He issued a passport and got a job to save money for the trip. And in mid-February 2015, he left for Syria to join ISIS, warning me that he would not contact me for some time. I didn’t like it all, but I didn’t want to upset him and tried not to discuss it with him, ”the student continued.

According to her, she and Vlad communicated through WhatsApp and VKontakte, in real life she never saw him. At the same time, he wrote to her from several accounts. Further, the defendant noted that at the end of March 2015, a girl of Asian appearance wrote to her, asking how Airat was doing. “From her words, I realized that we are talking about Vlad and that his last name is Samatov.

I realized that he was deceiving me. I wrote to him often. He didn't answer. And here it is! Like a piano fell on my head.

I deleted all correspondence with him and wanted to delete him from my life, ”said Karaulova.

After that, according to the defendant, she married via Skype to a man named Nadir, who was a member of a banned in Russia. She met him through a special site for Muslim women looking for husbands. Soon she issued a passport through the FMS in order to travel to him. But then Samatov came out to her again and stated that the marriage via Skype was invalid and that he would like to be with Varvara together. “Then it was the end of the school year, I was in despair, I was very lonely. I remarried in absentia. This time for a man named Abdul Hakim from ISIS. Secretly, I hoped to go to him, and somehow meet with Vlad, that is, with Samatov, ”said Karaulova.

From Moscow to Istanbul and back

“The most important thing for me was to go somewhere. Even in the next apartment. But better - to the beloved. The main thing for me was to marry a Muslim, it seemed to me that they take care of women and will not leave them, ”said Karaulova. According to her, then she called unknown man, said that he contacted her at the request of her husband, and offered to choose the day of departure to Syria. When she chose this day, he sent her e-tickets to Istanbul and said that she would be met in the Turkish capital.

“On the appointed day, I did not dare to leave the house for a long time, secretly hoping that the flight would be postponed or that for some reason the plane would not take off.

Frankie, my dog, seemed to feel something and was crying. I hugged him so that he would calm down, and I don’t even know how I could let go, ”the girl said and began to cry right in the courtroom.

Then she independently reached, flew to Istanbul and at the airport of this city went to the toilet, where she changed into traditional Muslim clothes. As the student said, at the Istanbul airport she did as she was told earlier: she took a taxi and gave a special phone number to the driver. After calling him, the taxi driver was told where to go. “Then I wrote an SMS message to my mother asking me not to worry and take a walk with the dog,” with these words, Karaulova’s mother began to cry.

“I ended up in an Istanbul apartment, where there were many women and children, as well as a few men who lived separately. I was not allowed to leave the apartment. I was instructed to throw away the SIM card and not go online. But then Samatov wrote to me on WhatsApp, said that his name was Airat, and asked me to come to him. He sent photos that were supposedly him. But there was absolutely not the same person as in his previous photos. I already expected any meanness or setup from him, but I was glad that everything was fine with him. To tell the truth, I didn’t really understand, in principle, how to behave in this situation, ”she explained to the court.

According to Karaulova, in Turkey she changed four apartments in different cities. “On May 31, we were put on a regular bus that took us to the border. Before that, I contacted Samatov and said that I wanted to see him. Then we were transferred to another car, then another. We changed a lot of cars, in the process my bag with a passport was lost. We were always being taken somewhere.

At some point, we were literally released into the field and told to walk along it. After 20 minutes, we ran into Turkish soldiers,”

- said the girl.

The military took Karaulova and four other women who were with her, first to a military base, and a day later to a temporary detention center, Varvara added. From there she was soon taken away by her father, Pavel Karaulov, with whom, hiding from numerous journalists, they flew first from the city of Batman to Istanbul, and then to Moscow.

Further, Varvara mentioned that in Moscow she was repeatedly interrogated by employees, they told her that Samatov was a former drug addict from Kazan, who was 35 years old, and that he was on the international wanted list: “At first, I didn’t want to communicate with him at all.” However, the Federal Security Service insisted that she show them the correspondence with her lover. “And then I saw that he had been writing to me all this time. He asked if I was observing prayer. I was touched, but at the same time it was very unpleasant for me that he was not even interested in whether everything was all right with me, ”said the defendant.

Meanwhile, Varvara's mother tried to protect Karaulova from communication with the outside world for a while. The student spent several weeks at her stepfather's dacha, and then in his apartment in Domodedovo near Moscow. In addition, the student, after talking with her mother and father, decided to change her first and last name.

“Varvara Karaulova became a household name, journalists followed me everywhere. This name and surname already lived their own life, separate from me.

And then I took a name for myself,” the defendant said.

Karaulova added that she was twice in a psychiatric hospital, where she did not have access to the Internet and telephone. “Then I gave them to my mother, she locked them in a special safe in our apartment,” the defendant said. At the same time, she periodically got in touch with her lover. “Once I wrote to him myself. I had terrible depression. “Just don’t leave me,” were my words,” Karaulova told the court. At some point, Samatov asked her if she would come to Syria again, and she said yes, although, according to her own words, at that moment she did not fully control herself.

The past is stronger

After leaving the psychiatric hospital, all her friends and friends turned away from Karaulova, in addition, she developed severe depression, the defendant continued. And although

she tried to go in for sports again, taught French lessons for Muslims and even helped organize a bike ride around Moscow, she never got rid of thoughts about Samatov,

and from August 4, 2015, they began to communicate via the Internet. “He was the only remedy for the severe depression and loneliness that I began after leaving the psychiatric hospital,” she said. At the same time, after Karaulova returned, Samatov told her that it was possible to move to Syria again - with a fake passport.

During her testimony, the defendant never mentioned that she recommended Samatov to write to her second page on social networks, in the name of Amina Safutdinova, since the FSB officers know the password for the main VKontakte account of Varvara Karaulova. Information about this is in the case file and was previously announced in court.

Karaulova noted that she was detained on November 27, 2015. “At six o’clock we got a call at the door, waking up I didn’t understand anything, I decided that it was my stepfather who had returned from work. But my mother came into the room, with her were special forces soldiers in masks. The apartment was searched, my mother gave them all the phones, tablet and laptop from the safe that I mentioned earlier. After that, I was taken to the FSB department. There was an investigator, he began to interrogate me without a lawyer. He also persuaded me to admit my guilt, since, according to him, this was the only chance to alleviate my plight. I agreed, I decided that he sympathized with me. True, when I read the protocol, it was not what I said. But the FSB officer said: "Then we will figure out what and how." The interrogation went on for several hours, only at the very end the lawyer arrived, I was taken to the temporary detention center at 38 Petrovka, ”the girl finished her monologue.

After that, Karaulova was asked a number of clarifying questions by prosecutor Mikhail Reznichenko, judge Alexander Ababkov, presiding over the trial, and lawyers. Varvara replied that in Syria she planned to get married and start a family, have children. “The main idea was to marry a Muslim. I didn’t plan to work there or engage in any other activity other than taking care of my husband and children, I didn’t want to either, ”she said.

About her husband on Skype, Abdul Khakim Karaulova knew only that he was in military structure ISIS, participates in hostilities: “I don’t know how exactly, maybe, at least with a lance on a horse it rides.”

Karaulova did not have any plan of action in case of her husband's death, but it seemed to her that she would not be forced into marriage.

In the apartment in Istanbul where Varvara was being held, there was a certain Ali Hajiyev, who had previously been wounded in Syria when he fought for ISIS. He said that the process of sending Karaulova to Syria should be accelerated after reading an article on the Internet that her parents were looking for the girl. Karaulova didn’t like the apartment itself: “It was hard there, the children were screaming all the time, because of this people were arguing with each other.” She even considered abandoning her plans, but she was told that she was not allowed to leave the apartment, and she complied, although there were no direct threats.

She did not tell her parents about her whereabouts, because she was afraid that they would pass this information on to the Turkish special services, and this would pose a threat to the girl's life. At the same time, Varvara had the technical ability to contact mom and dad.

When asked if she is a Muslim now, Karaulova replied that she liked a lot in this religion. “I am now ashamed that I previously took at face value many of the stereotypes associated with this religion. But given the circumstances that happened to me, I doubt that Islam is my choice, ”she concluded.

Varvara Karaulova (Alexandra Ivanova) is a student at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University who gained fame after an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate Syria and enter the territory controlled by the "Islamic State" (recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia, whose activities are banned by court order). On December 22, 2016, a military court found Karaulova guilty and sentenced her to 4.5 years in prison. On April 16, 2019, a court in Vologda granted her request for parole

Biography

Varvara Pavlovna Karaulova was born on November 29, 1995. At the time of her attempt to leave for Syria in 2015, Karaulova was a second-year student at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, at the Department of Cultural Studies. She was expelled from the university in October 2016 of her own free will.

Karaulova speaks several foreign languages. She was engaged in Thai boxing at a professional level.

Acquaintance with Airat Samatov

In 2012, Varvara met on the Internet a young man, a native of Tatarstan, Airat Samatov. Varvara later told about their communication: “We met Samatov in 2012 in a group of CSKA football fans on the VK network. He introduced himself to me as Vlad from Krasnogorsk. At first, everyday issues were discussed, then I woke up with a feeling of sympathy for him as a young man, then the feeling turned into love. nationalist posts. Sometimes we quarreled and argued."

In February-March 2015, the themes of Islam began to slip through his mind; earlier, he positioned himself as a pagan. I learned about the existence of the Islamic State from him. He presented this as stereotypes that are not related to Islam, that Muslims are terrorists. At the university, they told me about Islam formally. I maintained such conversations with Samatov for the sake of communicating with him. From his words, I liked that a woman in Islam is not infringed, but is under the protection of her husband. It was in August 2014, in September I started thinking about converting to Islam. In October, I decided to join this religion, I tried to read namaz. In the group "VK" "Women's club" Muslim "" I also asked questions. I came to the mosque, where I lost the desire to communicate with someone there, I was not met there as I expected.

Against the backdrop of a romantic relationship with Samatov, Varvara developed an interest in Islam. She became interested in Arabic culture, began to study Arabic, communicated with representatives of schools for the study of Islam and planned to enroll in a course on the correct reading of the Koran. At the end of 2014, Karaulova converted to Islam. In secret from her parents, she began to wear a hijab, putting it on after leaving the house.

After a sudden two-month break in communication from Samatov, which Varvara took painfully, Airat got in touch, inviting Varvara to come to the territory of Syria, which is under the control of the Islamic State.

After resuming communication with Samatov, Karaulova considered the marriage with Nadir invalid. Samatov promised to return the money sent by Nadir.

Personally, Karaulova never met Samatov. He wrote about his activities in correspondence: "I am an attack aircraft. My duties include running forward." At the same time, Samatov changed accounts and names, using the pseudonyms "Artur Sokolov" and "Adam TT".

Karaulova herself also changed nicknames on social networks, corresponding with Samatov as "Sofya Shevchenko" and as "Varya Karaulova". She also used a profile with the nickname "Amina Sayfutdinova". On her social network page, extremist literature was published, which was recognized by the court as prohibited. Karaulova herself later explained that Samatov had access to her page.

Trying to leave for Syria

In mid-February, he flew from Moscow to Istanbul. At the same time, he began to send me his photos, it was a Russian young man. Later I found out that these were not his photos. Then he wrote that he was leaving, it was hard for me. In May 2015, I flew to Turkey. I, already upon arrival, told him my phone number, and we began to correspond in "WhatsApp". Then he admitted that his name was Airat and sent his real pictures. I cried there all the time. On May 31, another woman and I took a bus from a Turkish apartment closer to the Turkish-Syrian border. Then they detained us, put us on a bus that looked like a truck, I was very scared. We were fingerprinted, none of the soldiers, these border guards even spoke English, I only managed to write down my father's phone number. From this base, we were taken to a temporary detention center for two days, and then to a refugee center, where my dad came to visit me.

On May 27, 2015, Varvara Karaulova secretly left for Turkey from her parents. After the disappearance of the girl, her parents contacted the police. A few days later, Karaulova's father found out that her daughter had received a passport from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after which she flew from Sheremetyevo Airport to Istanbul on flight SU2132.

On June 4, 2015, Karaulova was detained on the Turkish-Syrian border among Russians, including those from Chechnya and Dagestan, as well as citizens of Azerbaijan, who, as investigators suggest, were going to join the Islamic State.

After returning, Karaulova continued to correspond with Airat Samatov through the WhatsApp messenger and wanted to re-leave for Syria. Subsequently, she explained this by the fact that she loved Samatov and wrote to him "to maintain communication."

According to the father of Varvara Karaulova, the girl, having returned to Russia, was under the control of the FSB and resumed correspondence at the initiative of the operatives.

Criminal case

On October 23, 2015, a criminal case was initiated against Karaulova on charges of attempting to participate in the BADR group as part of the Islamic State. On October 28, 2015, the court chose Karaulova a measure of restraint in the form of detention.

At the same time, it became known that, having returned to Russia, Varvara Karaulova changed her name, calling herself Alexandra Ivanova. According to the parents, this was done due to excessive attention from the press with the knowledge of the special services on the recommendation of law enforcement officers. However, representatives of the prosecution pointed to the change of name as one of the preparations for a new attempt to leave for Syria.

Karaulova subsequently said of her arrest and interrogation: “The investigator suggested that the interrogation be conducted without a lawyer. But before signing the papers, [FSB investigator Aguzarov] Sergei Muratovich said that we would wait for a lawyer. But I told him that the words in the document were not exactly mine. He said that this was a short version. In court, Karaulova retracted her confession given during the preliminary investigation.

Court

The court began considering the case of Varvara Karaulova on October 5, 2016. During the process, Varvara did not admit her guilt, but did not deny that she continued to communicate with Samatov and wanted to try again to leave for Syria. Karaulova also admitted that she had warned Samatov about the security services spying on him.

"Once I had some kind of glitch in my head and I went to my VK page" Varya Karaulova "and saw a lot of letters from Samatov that he was worried about me, I reassured him. Then I noticed that FSB officers wrote to him on my behalf, I saw 4 messages," Karaulova said during one of the court hearings.

The conclusions of the psychiatrists, announced at the Karaulova trial, were contradictory. According to the forensic medical examination conducted by specialists of the Serbsky Institute, the girl did not have any mental disorders. In the voiced conclusion of the doctor of the Alekseev hospital, it was said that Karaulova had a schizotypal disorder.

On November 3, 2016, when asked by the state prosecutor about which trend in Islam Varvara considers herself to be, she answered: "I was probably related to the Shiites." This statement by Varvara does not agree well with the fact that the Islamic State, of which she is accused of trying to join, is a Sunni group fighting against the Shiite (Alawite) leadership of Syria.

On November 9, the state prosecutor stated that a psychological and linguistic examination confirmed Karaulova's intention to leave for Syria. Karaulova herself also confessed to the court that she communicated with the alleged recruiter of the Islamic State recognized as terrorist at her own will, and not at the request of the FSB officers.

On November 17, 2016, when asked by a judge about her attitude towards Islam, Karaulova said that she had stopped practicing Islam and praying when she became disillusioned with Samatov. "I consider myself an agnostic and have been an agnostic all my life, but I still like Islam very much," she said.

On April 26, 2017, Varvara Karaulova was transferred to the Vologda penal colony No. 1.

In July 2017, the European Court of Human Rights received a complaint from Varvara Karaulova, alleging numerous violations during the preliminary investigation and an unreasonably harsh sentence.

In April 2019, the lawyers sent a request for parole Karaulova. On April 16, 2019, the Vologda City Court granted the request for parole for Varvara Karaulova. The prosecutor and the administration of the colony objected to parole. The representative of the colony said that the convict was characterized negatively, because she had outstanding penalties.

According to the court order, Karaulova, after her release, is obliged to appear on a monthly basis and not change her permanent place of residence. In case of violation of the conditions of parole, she will continue to serve the sentence.

On April 27, Varvara Karaulova left the colony. She was met by Oleg Dimoni, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Vologda Oblast. Accompanied by an employee of the colony, they quickly proceeded to the car.

Notes

1. Student of Moscow State University Varvara Karaulova: dossier // AiF. 06/05/2015.
2. Student of Moscow State University Varvara Karaulova: dossier // AiF. 06/05/2015.
3. From the testimony of A. Ivanova in court on 11/17/2016.
4. Karaulova confirmed her intention to study at the Koran reading courses // Caucasian Knot. 10/27/2016.
5. Varvara Karaulova: “Dad, I was wrong!” // TVNZ. 06/19/2015.
6. Varvara Karaulova: “Dad, I was wrong!” // TVNZ. 06/19/2015.
7. Karaulova announced her marriage to a militant // Caucasian Knot. 10/25/2016.
8. Varvara Karaulova: “Dad, I was wrong!” // TVNZ. 06/19/2015.
9. Karaulova explained the correspondence in social networks about IS by the need to maintain a conversation with her fiancé // Caucasian Knot. 11/02/2016.
10. From the testimony of A. Ivanova in court on 11/17/2016.
11. Varvara Karaulova: “Dad, I was wrong!” // TVNZ. 06/19/2015.
12. Karaulova confirmed her intention to leave Russia in court // Caucasian Knot. 11/04/2016.
13. Moscow State University student who tried to join ISIS was left in custody // Channel One. 11/10/2016; Varvara Karaulova changed her name on the recommendation of law enforcement // AiF. 29.10.2015.
14. Karaulova said that she pleaded guilty at the request of the FSB investigator // MK, 11/17/2016.
15. From the testimony of A. Ivanova in court on 11/17/2016.
16. Contradictory conclusions of psychiatrists announced at Karaulova's trial // Caucasian Knot. 11/01/2016.
17. The prosecution asked for five years in prison for Varvara Karaulova for links with IS // Meduza, 08.12.2015.

August 1, 2016, 18:20

The investigation into the case of Varvara Karaulova, a student of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, accused of preparing to participate in the terrorist organization "Islamic State" is coming to an end - the trial will begin in the fall. In an exclusive interview from the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center, Varvara Karaulova told Zoya Svetova that she was not going to be a terrorist, what she does in prison and what she will do when she is released

- More than six months have passed since you are in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. What is the most difficult thing for you in prison?

The most difficult thing is that there is no opportunity to talk with relatives, hug, touch. From domestic - little movement. The feeling that you are thrown out of life. You can't even catch Pokemon here. Everyone catches, but I don’t even know what it is.

- What do you do in prison, what do you read, what languages ​​do you learn?

I tried to choose a more or less clear daily routine for myself, so as not to waste time here in vain. I set certain tasks for the day at a minimum, which I must have time to do. Except for household chores like washing and cleaning, I mostly read. I read several books in parallel, both fiction and educational literature. IN this moment- "History of the Russian State" by Karamzin. I read in the newspaper that the Eskas (arrested employees of the Investigative Committee, who are also kept in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. - Open Russia) they asked to give them historical literature from the library, and Pikul was brought to them. And I think to myself: "That's where your historical literature is." Then I'll give it to them on Monday. I also read "Alice in Wonderland" in English, "Theory of State and Law" by Marchenko. As for languages, I'm currently trying to learn Hebrew. In addition, I try to play sports - mostly on a walk.

- How do you perceive the prison experience?

To perceive this situation as an experience, it must be experienced to the end. And this is not an experience, but a reality. Although, no doubt, it helped me to rethink a lot. I hope I can use this to my advantage.

The investigation of your case is coming to an end, soon you will get acquainted with the materials, and the court is not far off. As far as we know from the media, you went to Syria to meet a man whom you fell in love with by correspondence, and did not suspect anything bad. What is your position on the case?

My position on the case is to convey the truth. It is difficult to articulate it in a couple of sentences. One thing I can say for sure: I did not intend to become a terrorist, and now it horrifies and depresses me that I supposedly had something to do with terrible events. At that time, all the negativity towards ISIS was perceived as propaganda.

Indeed, I thought that I would get married there and live under the protection and care of my husband. Then I imagined that I would live in a country where the laws of Islam prevail. But then they began to commit actions that were not consistent with the ideas of Islam, with which they hide behind. IS is making cowardly dastardly attacks against those who have done nothing to them.

You really didn’t understand politics and didn’t imagine that you were going to where a terrible war was going on? Didn't that scare you, or was it an adventure that beckoned?

Now I know more about politics than I would like. I had little interest in politics on my own. In many ways, she relied not on facts, but on the opinions of other people. Now I perceive with some incomprehension how it even occurred to me to get involved in such an adventure, as I could then trust those people. Now I have no doubt that this was a big mistake. I am very guilty in front of my family, in front of myself. I keep replaying in my head when I could say “stop” to myself. There were signs that I was doing wrong, but I turned a blind eye to everything, succumbing to emotions and feelings. I regret that at that moment I made the wrong choice. I understand that I am not in the best position now, but my life has turned out much better than it could have ended for me.

When you returned to Moscow, you realized that you had made a mistake and decided to start new life. Explain why you decided to change your first and last name?

I decided to change my first and last name after talking with my mother. We thought that it would be easier to start all over again, crossing this story out of our lives. And my last name and first name could attract undue attention. At the time, I felt pressured by the huge amount of media attention that just scared me. I don’t associate myself with a new name and surname, but at some point it helps me to abstract, that is, this does not happen to me, but to a certain Sasha Ivanova. Therefore, the cellmates address me in this way, by a new name. Packages are brought in the name of Alexandra Ivanova, but Varia Karaulova is not in the pre-trial detention center. In the future, I would like to return my real name and name, return, as the investigators and the court say, "setting data."

- When this whole story is over, what would you like to do in life?

I would like to realize all the things that I used to put off. Spend more time with family and friends. In prison, I realized how valuable time is. I would like to do something that could benefit other people. It is important.

Varvara Karaulova sent her answers from the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center.

Image copyright RIA Novosti Image caption The court sentenced Varvara Karaulova to four and a half years in prison in a penal colony

Varvara Karaulova, who was found guilty by the Moscow District Military Court of trying to join the Islamic State extremist group, listened to the verdict calmly, as if not even surprised.

The next three-plus years - given the period spent in pre-trial detention - the former student of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University will have to spend in a penal colony.

The court considered it proven that Karaulova, who officially changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova, deliberately tried to travel to Syria in order to join the Islamic State and participate in its terrorist activities.

Public Prosecutor Mikhail Reznichenko expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the case.

But Karaulova's lawyers did not hide their disappointment and immediately after the meeting announced that they would appeal the verdict.

Half an hour after the end of the reading of the verdict, Varvara's parents, Pavel and Kira Karaulov, came out to the journalists.

The Karaulovs have been divorced for a long time, they came to the court hearings of their daughter with their new spouses and - as it seemed from the outside - they hardly even communicated with each other. However, after the verdict was announced, they answered questions together.

"We have a punitive state"

Pavel Karaulov: What can I say? We have roared and can now speak to you. For me, this is not a surprise, but simply absurd. Even now I don’t understand that [a] real term was awarded.

We really had a desire to help, to reveal, to hinder. Who else, if not me, if not my daughter, could all this [recruitment of new members of the Islamic State among the youth], if not stop, then significantly slow down. After all, not everyone understands the scale of the disaster that is happening.

And Varya spoke about this in her bright speech yesterday. That these are not the scales of Russia, these are the scales of the whole world. And now a bold black cross has been put on this.

Image caption Varvara Karaulova's parents did not expect such a harsh sentence

Kira Karaulova: None of this chain, not a single person was found or identified. Nobody! As they continued their criminal activities, they continue. It's just that no one needs it.

We have a punitive state, cruel. The man referred to today by the judge, a witness who told tales about the "Islamic State" to please the investigation and who was given four years for fighting on the side of the Islamic State and Jabhad al-Nusra, who was the commander of an intelligence group who came to our country with fake documents to carry out terrorist activities - so this person was given [only] four years!

Pavel Karaulov A: Two important points. Witness immunity applies throughout the world. When we returned, all the officials, including [the former representative of the Investigative Committee, Vladimir] Markin, said that Varya was a witness. As it turned out now, we did not have immunity.

It is probably my mistake that we did not sign any documents, wanting to cooperate in every possible way and in every possible way encouraging the actions of employees, in particular the Federal Security Service.

And most importantly: what today's accusation is based on is, in fact, self-incrimination. Self-incrimination under the influence of the investigator, which was clearly stated.

Understand that all over the world, in our country too, this kind of self-incrimination that occurs without video and audio recording, but there is none, it cannot be taken into account, it is inhumane.

Yes, she, despite her seemingly twenty years, was a child. It was very difficult for her. Having found herself in such conditions, trying - no matter how sad it sounds - to please the investigation, she followed what the adults told her. And she managed to change her mind only when lawyers got involved, when gradually, after six months, she began to trust them. Then she began to give truthful testimony. And today in court this truthful testimony is worthless.

Kira Karaulova: All our testimonies and Varya's testimonies were called into question. The testimony of the investigator, the FSB officers, the expert, who is a career FSB officer, was not called into question for some reason. That is, our testimonies are biased, their testimonies are crystal clear - amazing logic.

Pavel Karaulov: I did my best to ensure that the FSB knew about our every step, about our every action. I did everything and persuaded my daughter to contribute in every possible way to this. I believed that this should not only be stopped, punished, eradicated. Our children cannot suffer even if their parents make a mistake.

Of course I made a mistake. But it turns out that I made a mistake by contacting the one who should ensure our safety.

"We did not expect such a degree of injustice"

Kira Karaulova: I also want to add that not a single real fact was included in the basis of the indictment. Except for the existence of the correspondence itself. Everything else was interpreted as convenient for the investigation.

Pavel Karaulov A: One simple point. Today, this was also discussed: that there is allegedly a person who has not been identified, who was not called either during the investigation or during the trial. We don't know who he is, what identification he has, or indeed if he really exists.

And another very important point, which for some reason did not sound today. Varya, with the assistance of employees involved in communication, she again became a victim of this communication. And a month before she was taken to the pre-trial detention center, she stopped all communication. And article 205 says that if a person voluntarily stops cooking, he is released from liability.

It all really happened, it's impossible not to see. There is not a single letter, not a single SMS, not a single call, not a single message that Varya would have written after mid-September.

Kira Karaulova: Despite the fact that they tried to reach her and it is not known who it was. Was it Samatov himself [the man who influenced Varvara Karaulova to convert to Islam and decide to flee to IS] or the FSB tried to provoke her back. Since they [the FSB officers] cowardly crawled away, the thought creeps into my mind, maybe it was clean water provocation?

This is a lesson for our people. Anyone can take her place. Because someone will decide that you think so, and not otherwise. And interprets your words or letter as it sees fit.

Pavel Karaulov: We did not expect such a degree of injustice. Nevertheless, there are already obvious facts for the European Court of Human Rights, documented, the appeal is accepted. The only thing there is enough long term consideration, but I am sure what opinion the ECtHR will take in any case.

I have spoken to those parents who come to me for help in a situation either close to or preceding the one in which we find ourselves. There are absolutely simple things: feel free to talk to your children, ask them questions, try to participate in their lives.

"I left my family and even my beloved dog"

The court concluded that Ivanova held extremely radical views on Islam and justified waging the so-called holy war - jihad.

According to the verdict, Karaulova realized that she was going to take part in the activities of a terrorist organization, and after returning to Russia, she justified the activities of the Islamic State and hatched plans to re-departure for ISIS.

Thus, according to the court, she committed a crime that is qualified in the Criminal Code as preparation for participation in the activities of a terrorist organization.

Image copyright RIA Novosti Image caption According to the girl, her love for the IS recruiter was sick and inadequate

On the eve of Varvara Karaulova, speaking with the last word in court, she called her behavior a teenage rebellion both with her relatives and with the special services.

She also noted that she did not undergo any training to join the ranks of the IS.

At the same time, the girl admitted that she had romantic feelings for an Islamic State militant named Samatov, but stressed that "love was sick and inadequate."

According to the state prosecution, Karaulova deliberately wanted to join the IS jihadists, for which she left her family and even her beloved dog and left for Turkey, in order to then cross the border and end up in Syria.

Lawyers Ilya Novikov, Gadzhi Aliyev and Sergey Badamshin tried to convince the court of the complete innocence of their client.

Karaulova pleads not guilty. She explained her attempt to escape to Syria by saying that she fell in love with one of the recruiters she met on social networks.

Varvara Karaulova went missing in May 2015. It soon became clear that she secretly flew to Turkey and was detained there while trying to cross the border with Syria. From Turkey, she was deported to her homeland, where she came under the supervision of the FSB.

In October, Karaulova from Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Meduza journalist Evgeny Berg spoke with Pavel Karaulov.

- You brought papers with you - are these cribs?

I'm just prescribing important points on business. Every day I turn to them, update, correct. These are the theses that are important to understand - the accusation will crumble sooner or later.

What were your first impressions when you heard the verdict?

For me, this is the greatest tragedy. That which cannot be. Teenage mistakes, depressive state - no country has criminalized this.

- What are you going to do now?

The lawyers filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. From the very beginning we insisted that the accusation was based on nothing. The investigation is being conducted in order to get away from assumptions and appeal to evidence, facts, witnesses - but none of this is here. Some of the witnesses for the prosecution never even saw Varya and did not know [her]. And among the other witnesses were two investigators in the case, although the Code of Criminal Procedure says that this is impossible.

I rely on sanity Supreme Court. Lawyers noted that the Moscow District Military Court did not take into account the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court. It appeared recently, on November 3, 2016, it clearly states what terrorist actions are.

- It says that this is either propaganda of terrorism, or participation in the terrorist actions themselves.

Right. There must be an endorsement of terrorism by the defendants. And from the point of view of the court, Varya did not say that she did not like terrorism - and thus approved of it.

- Lawyers make predictions about the appeal?

Predictions in this case is a thankless topic. But I have a high confidence that all this will fall apart at the level of the European Court of Human Rights.

- When did this story start for you?

On the evening of May 27, 2015. That day, Varya told her mother that I would have it. We are divorced. Varya lives with her mother, but she also spends time with my family. Calls at 23:30 ex-wife: "Do you know where Varya is?" She says that she is not at home, although, as a rule, Varya was not later than nine in the evening. But most importantly, the first time she did not walk the dog in the evening.

- She could be with friends.

Almost all of her time was occupied by sports, studying at Moscow State University and a dog. She had great company at school. But then she entered Moscow State University, the Faculty of Philosophy - seven girls and one boy in the group. With school comrades, the distance grew, and over time, there were practically no friends left. Varya spent more and more time on the Internet.

- Young man wasn't there either?

In general, I was shy, I did not ask such questions. He asked about friends, but not directly about boys. Although some thoughts crept in ... I spent a lot of time at work, in general, a flaw. The first love was by correspondence on the Internet, as it turned out later. Her friends told.

- How did you look for it?

That same night, my ex-wife and I went to write a statement to the police. Then I spent two days searching in Moscow. He connected everyone he could. The next day I was at the central reception of the FSB, writing a statement. It was Friday, they didn’t want to accept, but, to be honest, I lost my temper a little, and still they accepted.

- Why the FSB? Was a police report not enough?

It was already everywhere: the prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Everything I called first of all - hospitals and so on - she was not there. It was necessary to expand the circle of searches, and I did it. Connecting everyone I know.

- From law enforcement?

Everyone I know is from different areas. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aeroflot, Interpol - all to whom I could throw this information.

- Where do you get such a circle of friends from?

I have worked in various positions in my life, I have lived abroad, I know many people. Participated in major government projects information technology, engineering technologies. He worked in the field of finance, a little bit in banking. In general, a wide range.

- Did the connections help in any way?

I received information that Varya was given a foreign passport at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and she flew to Istanbul. I learned this from our security services three days later. Then he began to spread information through social networks.

- Missing Daughter Announcement ( now deleted - approx. "Jellyfish") got some gigantic number of reposts.

20 thousand, I think, in the first two days. The resonance was very wide. On the first day I received 15 calls, and on the third day it was over two hundred. The phone did not stop - SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook, email. They wrote from Spain, Portugal, England, France, Scandinavia, the CIS. They advised, helped, said that now there is actually a wide recruitment in Syria, countries Central Asia, all this happens through Turkey. On the second day, the press became more active.

- That is, to make noise - it was a conscious step?

Yes. To collect information and, based on it, try to build the logic of further actions.

- What happened on the third day of the search?

By that time I had already collected a lot of information. Through the headquarters in Lyon, it was possible to open a case with Interpol. They told me: “You will not achieve anything until you are in place. No one will worry about your daughter, urgently fly to Turkey.” The FSB, of course, dissuaded me from the trip. Then I asked: “Are you going to fly yourself? Are you going to do something?" Well, the answer suggested itself, and then I said that I would save my daughter myself. I took a ticket for June 2; I remember that in the afternoon I gave an interview to NTV, and I received confirmation for the flight. They ask: “Maybe we will fly too?” Me: "Yes, please."

- Did you often watch TV then?

To be honest, I am very far from TV, I have a bad idea of ​​what Channel One or NTV is. Only recently I began to understand that there is some difference.

- Did you fly to Istanbul that evening?

Yes, if I remember correctly. At the same time, FSB officers warned that it was life-threatening. Naturally, I didn't care at all. I am not saying this to score points, and therefore people should still learn lessons from the history of our family. I still get calls, people ask what to do.

- What to do if a child is recruited?

If a daughter, for example, started to dress up [in Muslim clothes], stopped eating, and so on… If you think that there are only a few of these cases, no, there are thousands of them.

- Cases of recruitment of young girls?

Yes. Recruitment through love, affection, as in some destructive sect. This also happens in southern republics Russia, and in Moscow. The special services do not deny this - about 2800 people were recruited in 2016 ( in the "List of terrorists and extremists (acting)" of Rosfinmonitoring as of December 29, 2016was6899 people - 2.5 thousand more than a year earlier - approx. "Jellyfish"). These are the ones they have information about.

- How did you look for Varvara in Turkey?

The first thing I tried at the airport was to find out if Varya had gone through passport control. It was difficult without the Turkish language. Google translator helped a little, but not much. And in English they knew two or three words. I had with me papers in Turkish with a description of my history, special signs of Varya - thanks to the staff of the Turkish embassy in Moscow, they helped to compile. Some fuss continued all night, but as a result, I did not receive help at the airport. On the morning of June 3, I arrived at the Palace of Justice in Istanbul - they have security forces concentrated there. I managed miraculously to get to the supreme prosecutor of the country and address him as a father.

- Directly in person?

Yes, in person, in his office.

- So easily went to him?

Naturally, there are cordons on the way to it. But people, oddly enough, got into my position, and they understood English. In general, I managed to get in. The prosecutor listened, supported me and initiated an investigation. Later, I received a video recording of Varya's arrival from the operatives. They have a very developed video surveillance network and it was possible to track the passage of passport control, the exit from the airport, the car in which she left. But, unfortunately, the cars changed, and we lost it.

Then he turned to the Russian consulate in Istanbul. The consul was sympathetic, immediately accepted, gave recommendations on how to continue the search, but gently hinted that professionals were already working on the case. Like, I won’t help with something specific, but if anything, call, here is my personal phone number. It's actually a lot, I'm really grateful for that.

In Turkey, a lot of people came out to me, journalists immediately began to persecute me. I was not opposed: on the same day, some kind of program was broadcast on television, there was a resonance. People literally on the street approached, cheered. Called, offered the services of an interpreter. The opinion of the public was absolutely unambiguous: the girl needs help, and these, as they are called, “shaitans”, should be punished. My acquaintances and friends told me in which areas you can look for Varya. I began to travel around these places, trying to talk with the mullahs, with representatives of the communities, just with people.

- Just approached with a photo of Vari?

Yes. I had these printouts with information, showed them, said what a disaster, who I am. The attitude was mostly positive with a couple of exceptions.

- How many places did you visit?

Pretty much everything I planned; the distances are large - the city is gigantic, and the districts were on the outskirts. Trips are six at least three hours. For three days, from morning to evening, I was busy only with this. Unfortunately, all these efforts did not end with direct success.

- After these three days, despair did not appear?

It is clear that there were sensations along the sinusoid. Then they give you hope, a wave appears, and then it is replaced by disappointment, because you come to the next district, and your hopes are not justified. But there was no despair, no desire to give up everything. I knew that I would go home only with Varya.

- How did you manage to find it?

The consul called me and said that in one of the detained girls in the suburbs of Kilis ( city ​​on the border with Syria - approx. "Jellyfish") Varvara Karaulova was identified by the Turkish migration service. I almost lost consciousness at that moment. It was a profound experience, but so positive that I even wanted to eat. She was transferred to the city of Batman, to the camp of the migration service, which is 300 kilometers from Kilis. The next day I flew there. On June 8 in Batman, through acquaintances, I got to the local head of the migration service. He allowed to meet with Varya.

What did she look like when you saw her?

She was wearing a long, light brown overall and a black scarf - very unexpected for me, but I thought - this is probably how everyone walks around here. We hugged there, so we stood for five minutes. It was impossible to talk - tears choked. The only thing I heard: "Dad, I was wrong." And she also asked to buy fruits and toys for children - there were women who were detained with small children.

- How did you leave Turkey?

Varya lost her passport. She gave it to the guide of a group of girls [who were supposed to cross the Turkish-Syrian border], and at the moment of detention by the migration service, he ran away with all the documents. One of my acquaintances gave me the phone number of [Russian Ambassador to Turkey] Andrey Karlov ( killed in Ankara on December 19, 2016 - approx. "Jellyfish"). A kind, sensitive person who helped us a lot. Thanks to him, we flew to Istanbul.

In Istanbul, we were met by consular officials and a swarm of journalists. It was hard for Varya, she was exhausted, she could hardly move, she was in a terrible depression. She said that she was afraid to go to Russia - those with whom she was in the migration camp said that she was facing a deadline. And I answered: “You see, the FSB officers write that no criminal cases have been opened, fly in.” In Turkey, I was constantly in correspondence with them, informing them what we were doing, what flights we were flying, because I believed that these people supported us and provided assistance.

Yes, a toned minibus without license plates was brought to the gangway, there were eight people there. About 300 journalists were already waiting for us, we left through another gate, but still we were followed by an escort of several cars. You can't refuse the professionalism of the FSB drivers - after an hour and a half we broke away from the media.

- Did Varya tell you anything?

In Turkey, it took two days to complete all the documents, we did not see each other. And on the plane ... Varya was in such a state that she could hardly communicate, she cried and slept all the time. I didn't feel the need to ask her. Later, employees of the Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry explained that depression is a disease, it must be treated, including medication.

In Russia, we moved in with friends - at the request of the FSB. For the first few days, employees talked with Varya for four or five hours ( The prosecution denied at trial that the FSB worked with Karaulova after she returned - Meduza's note). I now understand that this was my deepest mistake.

- Why did you even let the secret services communicate with your daughter in a state of clinical depression?

It was a mistake. There was a gigantic desire to punish this "shaitan" [with whom Varya corresponded]. Because it is impossible, it is wrong to do this with people, especially with a girl who knows nothing about this life. I trusted too much, I thought that the best professionals in Russia are working with us - they don’t want evil.

- How did Barbara react to this work?

She went forward, spoke even more than she was asked.

- So she told you why she decided to go to ISIS?

Painful love played a key role. It all started when she was 15 years old, in 2010. Varya was interested in football, supported CSKA - went to matches, adored [CSKA goalkeeper Igor] Akinfeev, she even hung a huge portrait of him. Then she began to communicate on the Internet with a certain Vlad. At first they spoke common topics, and then the themes of culture, justice, correct state structure. Against the background of a variable lack of communication, friendship appeared, then - falling in love, the need for physical intimacy. It came to direct declarations of love, to the desire to get married.

And in parallel, Vlad discussed Islam with her, the Muslim world full of wonderful opportunities, where women are bowed down, and the negative aspects that exist in Russia have already been overcome. And there was skillful manipulation, a swing - either “I love it, I can’t,” or “I hate it.”

Vlad abruptly disappeared - and he disappeared deliberately. You communicate, communicate, for you it becomes a need, and then - bang, and everything ends.

- Haven't you noticed how Barbara's mood changes dramatically?

There were moments when she walked depressed, sad, but said that she was just very tired - study, session, term paper. It seemed impolite to dig deeper. Although now I understand that it was not necessary to be shy; you need to talk to your children, ask questions, don't procrastinate - it might just be too late.

- But in the end, your daughter did not go to Vlad, but to another person?

Yes, when Vlad once again disappeared, she, at the instigation of women from the group "Muslim" ( public "VKontakte" devoted to the issues of Islam - approx. "Jellyfish") in defiance of her lover, she married another man via Skype - by the way, not related to ISIS. This is how this Abdul Hakim arose, and money came from him for a ticket to Istanbul.

Varya leaves everything, decides - to spite her mother, I will get frostbite of her ears - and flies away. Only in Istanbul does she begin to realize that there is no smell of golden mansions there. And in court, she also said that when she found herself in an Istanbul apartment, in cramped conditions with several women, her eyes began to open, and even more so when she got to Kilis.

She didn't cross. They were detained near the border. There were no documents, and everyone was sent to a migration camp.

- She then went to Abdul Hakim?

She went to Vlad - he once again showed up when she was in Istanbul. He said that in fact he was not Vlad, but Airat Samatov, that he allegedly tested her like that, and now he was convinced that this was true love to the grave. We don't know anything about this Vlad-Ayrat. He was not summoned to court, no one made a request to the Syrian Ministry of Internal Affairs, we don’t even know if one person is hiding under this name.

- Why did the recruiters manage to get Varya to Turkey?

I think for two reasons. First, they are really skilled people. The second reason is that everything happened against the background of a special psychological state of the daughter. On the one hand, the puberty period, as they said at the Research Institute of Psychiatry, on the other hand, the almost complete absence of real communication with peers, including boys.

- Lawyer Sergei Badamshin insisted during the debate in court that your divorce also played a role.

Yes, of course, this is a common background. Varya's happiest years were in America, when we lived as a family. She probably tried to reproduce them. We broke up when she went to first grade.

- What was the communication between Vari and the FSB when you returned from Turkey?

Varya provided them with passwords, logins, told about the accounts with which she corresponded. They didn't know about anything. They knew that there was Varya Karaulova, and on her page this same Klaus Klaus ( the nickname under which VKontakte was active Vlad, aka Airat Samatov - approx. "Jellyfish"). She herself told them all the details. And then all this turned out to be in the accusation, just some kind of nonsense.

- How often did the FSB officers come? How did they communicate?

At first it was extremely tight. Operational work was reduced to a "radio game", as it used to be called ( radio game - the transmission of disinformation to the enemy through a double agent - approx. "Jellyfish"), Varya corresponded with Vlad-Ayrat. Employees took away all gadgets from Varya - a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet - and equipped them with the appropriate means. I picked them up myself the prosecution at the trial denied the facts about the radio game and the equipment of gadgets - ed. "Jellyfish").

By the way, you ask yourself a question - if you have such a wonderful technical base that you haven’t tapped the recruiter’s phone either? This is simply done. With the help of a virus program, you get access to the camera on the phone, you see what it is doing, what is around, using GPS you determine the coordinates.

- Did you ask the employees then?

No, I thought that super-professionals were working with me, but what am I? Amateur.

- Varya began to recover at that time?

No, we began to understand that the child does not come out of depression. He eats badly, sleeps little, cries. Alexander Poluektov said that he had connections in the Alekseev psychiatric clinic ( Poluektov - FSB officer; according to Karaulova's parents, it was he who carried out operational work with her after returning from Turkey; at the trial, he was interrogated behind closed doors; "Moscow's comsomolets"calledhis "employee who exposed Karaulova" - ed. "Jellyfish").

- Barbara didn't mind?

No, she saw that we [with her mother] also did not have fun around the clock, were in a rather unpleasant state. She agreed. We thought that now we will meet with professionals, they will look, the tests will pass, they will give us recommendations. As a result, while we were waiting in the corridor, Varya was almost forcibly hospitalized in another building ( at the trial, it turned out that Karaulova’s clinic was diagnosed with “schizopathic disorder”; later he was refuted by the doctors of the Serbsky Institute - ed. "Jellyfish"). On the same day we took her, and agreed with the Research Institute of Psychiatry. There she lay in the ward for two weeks.

Now I understand that this was extremely insufficient. But progress was evident, we considered it possible to pick it up. At least from the point of view drug treatment there were no breaks. We just thought - why in the hospital? Summer is the same, you can go to the country, on bicycles somewhere.

- By the way, you wanted to go to Belarus to ride bicycles, but the FSB was against it.

Yes it is.

- You agreed with them.

Yes, every step At trial, the prosecution denied this - approx. "Jellyfish"). So she goes to the hospital, so we take her away: “What do you think? Are there any objections? Communication was fine! Just really there are freaks in any family. I don’t know how these stars will look on their shoulder straps.

- When did Varya change her name?

It was already at the end of August, we were discharged, Varya lived with her mother, in the apartment where she was registered. The hype in the media around her was extremely high. A man goes out in the morning to walk with a dog, and a camera comes out of the bushes. Her mother suggested taking the name of Varya's great-grandmother - Alexander Ivanov. To make work easier and public opinion chill a little.

In August, the two of them went to the passport office. The fact that this has now become a point of indictment is an anecdote. Allegedly, Varya was preparing for a crime by changing her name! How could she prepare? She could not move around Russia, let alone go to Syria. I just do not understand how a judge of such a high level could not notice such simple things.

- You have decisions Russian courts cause surprise?

In this case, yes. Although, in the same Lefortovo court, the hearings on the extension of Vare's arrest began only after the investigator entered the judge's room ... For the fifth or sixth time, I already understood what was happening. Although the lawyers immediately warned.

- And you didn't believe them?

In the States, I was constantly able to challenge traffic violation protocols if I had reasonable arguments. I didn't think it could be otherwise. Third power after all. I was sure that the judge of the Moscow District Military Court would not disregard the objective points. The ECHR will definitely not leave them, after all.

- We still need to reach the ECtHR.

In fact of the matter. I still hope for the Supreme Court.

- Varya asked at some point to stop the "radio game"?

Yes. She understands - well, a freak out! - and with attachment can do nothing. Typical stockholm syndrome. In mid-September, he says: “Mom, dad, I can’t take it anymore, now I’ll be dragged out again, but I want to study and work.” She had only a push-button phone left, no WhatsApp, no Internet, nothing. There has been no communication [with Vlad-Ayrat] since then.

- When did they come to detain her?

At six in the morning, it was October 27th. More than ten people. And the NTV group was still there. And we just started to get out - study began, finally the world shone with new colors, this freak left our lives. And this is where it happens. I thought it was a misunderstanding, to be honest. Maybe someone was wrong. At first, I didn’t think that this could be followed by an arrest. Because really nothing at all.

- When did you see your daughter next?

Only in the court of appeal in November, there was a video conference with the pre-trial detention center. The trial in Lefortovo [where the measure of restraint was chosen] took place without our participation. Appointed lawyer called an hour before the trial. Still, it’s impossible to get to Lefortovo in Moscow in an hour.

- Why didn't you immediately hire a lawyer by agreement?

Nothing was presented before the trial. It was not even clear what was at stake. Maybe she was included in the witness protection program, taken away somewhere and protected from someone. But the realization came quickly, the next day the trial was held, the accusation appeared.

You made such a fuss to get your daughter out of another country. Is it really impossible to connect your acquaintances here too?

There were some conversations, of course ... But they told me that she still did not behave very correctly, and some kind of prevention was needed. Including so that others can understand.

- And you could not imagine the scale of the problem then?

Just like when gadgets were taken away from us. "Take it or leave it for you?" - “We don’t know for sure, let’s see for a day, there’s nothing there anyway, then you’ll take it away.” Naively, I behaved too much, I guess.

Well, and later, in December, when lawyers were not allowed into the pre-trial detention center for a month, maybe you could still use your connections?

It has already become difficult.

- Difficult?

As I understand it, the decision was made on enough high level. I don't know why or why. Naturally, I tried to do something, but, as you can see, to no avail. Then it turned out that in the first month after the arrest, the most tragic thing happened.

- You mean when she confessed?

Yes. She is isolated, threatened - do you want to get 20 years? They say - I wish you well, we are here to punish bad people- so sign this paper. And soon your lawyer will arrive by appointment, he is also a great guy and wants the best for you. Many after this would not have signed? She wanted to make the investigator respect her. Such an excellent student syndrome. The information background then changed. The media was hooked on the words of the prosecutor about self-explosion - they shocked me ( prosecutor Mikhail Reznichenko insisted in court that after joining the IG, Karaulova could have committed a self-explosion in one of the countries of Europe or Russia - ed. "Jellyfish").

- Maybe you shouldn't have made such a fuss in May 2015? Perhaps the daughter would have remained free.

I have absolutely no regrets about what I did. Both I and Varya - we understand how close she was to hell when I pulled her out. The joyful thing is that she is alive, healthy, she no longer has a painful addiction. And she looks at the world with different eyes. If not for that noise in May, the consequences could have been more dramatic.

- What is she going to do now?

First of all, of course, keep fighting. Along with this, she continues to study, has recently mastered Yiddish, reads a Latin textbook, lectures on physics, fiction, tries to go in for sports, although the opportunities in the pre-trial detention center are extremely limited.

Today, by the way, I have a happy day: for the first time since the moment of detention, we were allowed to talk - five minutes on the phone. It was impossible to communicate in court. Varya sounds completely different. Certainly, latest events she was terribly upset, there is also depression, but nevertheless, she is already much more mature and more serious.