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The Kuibyshevsky District Court in Samara has sentenced the founder of the “Council of Mothers and Wives,” Olga Tsukanova, to one year and seven months of corrective labour in a case concerning her failure to comply with “foreign agent” obligations (under Part 2, Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by “Ostorozhno, novosti.”

She was also banned from administering online resources for two years.

Tsukanova, who had spent six months in pre-trial detention, was released in the courtroom after the verdict was announced. Taking into account the time spent in custody, her actual corrective labour period will be one month.

Pervyi otdel notes that this is the first time a verdict has been handed down in person, not in absentia, under Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code.

The activist and the “Council of Mothers and Wives” were designated as “foreign agents” in May 2023. Two months later, the organisation ceased its activities because of this status.

In January 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs put Tsukanova on a wanted list. A month later, the activist went to the Investigative Committee with her colleagues to report that she was not evading law enforcement. Afterwards she was detained in a criminal case for failing to comply with “foreign agent” obligations, and the following day sent to pre-trial detention.

Tsukanova’s defence lawyer said the criminal prosecution was triggered by the absence of a “foreign agent” disclaimer in a video on her YouTube channel. In addition, between December 2023 and June 2024, she was fined four times on administrative charges of failing to comply with the “foreign agent” legislation: in one instance for not submitting a report, and the others for failing to include the “foreign agent” label.

This spring, the activist reported that she was not receiving necessary medical care in the Samara pre-trial detention centre. While in custody, she developed high blood pressure, severe lower back pain and swelling. Tsukanova was able to see a general practitioner, but they did not prescribe treatment.

  • The “Council of Mothers and Wives” was formed after mobilisation was announced in September 2022. It was founded by Olga Tsukanova, whose 20-year-old son was then doing compulsory military service. She said officials had twice tried to force him to sign a contract and be sent to fight in Ukraine. The “Council of Mothers and Wives” brought together female relatives of Russian soldiers who tried to defend the rights of conscripts and those mobilised. Tsukanova emphasised that the organisation does not oppose the war in Ukraine, and that the men, brothers and sons of its activists “either participate in the special military operation or serve in the army, defending this country.”
  • In 2015, Tsukanova tried to run for the district council in Samara (a major city on the Volga) on the ticket of the “Volya” party, led by Svetlana Lada-Rus.’