Olesya Krivtsova, 19, was added to Russia's list of terrorists and extremists after she posted an Instagram story about the October bridge explosion that also denounced Russia for invading Ukraine.
According to CNN, the teen from Russia's Arkhangelsk area must wear a tracking device strapped to her ankle while under house arrest after being accused of discrediting the Russian army and justifying terrorism on social media.
Krivtsova, a student at Northern (Arctic) Federal University in the northeastern city of Arkhangelsk, is also facing criminal charges for allegedly criticizing the Russian army in a student chat on the Russian social network VK.
"Olesya's case is not the first, nor is it the last," Alexei Kichin, Krivtsova's lawyer, told CNN.
According to Kichin, the teenager could spend up to three years in jail for disparaging the Russian army and up to seven years in prison for using terrorism as reason. Krivtsova's defense team is hoping for a less severe punishment, such as a fine.
Krivtsova is currently detained in her mother's residence in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk region, where she is prohibited from using the internet or any other kind of communication.
According to OVD-Info, an independent human rights watchdog, at least 61 cases were initiated in Russia in 2022 on the allegations of justification of terrorism on the internet, with 26 leading to sentencing thus far.
Natalya Krivtsova, Olesya's mother, believes the government is attempting to send a message to the public by "publicly flogging" her daughter for not keeping her opinions to herself.
"We live in the Arkhangelsk region and this is a vast region but too remote from the center. There are no more protests in Arkhangelsk, so they are trying to strangle everything that is left at its early stage," Natalya Krivtsova told CNN.
Olesya Krivtsova has had run-ins with the law before for expressing her opinions in public, CNN noted. She was charged administratively in May of last year for disseminating anti-war posters and defaming the Russian army.
When she was accused of defaming the Russian army on social media in October, things became a lot worse. Krivtsova's attorney claims that criminal action is brought when the same item is violated twice.
Natalya Krivtsova claims that on Dec. 26, police barged into the apartment where her daughter and her husband Ilya were residing, forcing the children to lie face down on the floor and allegedly threatening them with a sledgehammer, which the officers claimed was a "hello" from the Yevgeny Prigozhin-led Wagner Group.
In the infamous video, mercenaries from the Wagner Group, which aggressively recruits inmates, appear to have executed a former criminal, Yevgeny Nuzhin, with a sledgehammer after he attempted to flee his station.
