The true story of the Russian woman Varvara Karaulova in an exclusive interview with Channel One: what pushed her to join the flags of ISIS. The story of Varvara Karaulova told by her father Pavel Karaulov What Varvara Karaulova did
Today is the finale of the trial of Varvara Karaulova, who converted to Islam and twice tried in 2015 to escape to her fiancé, who fought in the ranks of ISIS*, in Syria. The Life columnist, who spoke with Karaulova’s first lawyer, Alexander Karabanov, tried to recreate based on these data and her observations of the process psychological picture an unlucky terrorist who still remains a mystery to society.
“A child has disappeared” - this is how the post on social networks began, which Pavel Karaulov asked to repost a year and a half ago. He said that his daughter Varvara may have been kidnapped. A smart girl looked out from the photographs, she looked about 15 years old. Braid, bangs, baggy clothes. One could believe that this was a homely girl, poorly versed in the world around her, who allowed herself to be deceived, taken away, lured. More than 10 thousand users believed and reposted it. They put anxiety, soul, and sympathy into the reposts. 10 thousand deceived "investors". Karaulova’s father later deleted this post. It quickly became clear that the “child” was 19 years old. According to Russian laws, this is an adult citizen. Capable of being fully responsible for his actions.
It turned out that Varvara Karaulova studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, lived in America and England, knows several languages, and is proficient in martial arts. This is no longer a child, but some kind of universal soldier. And in the video and photo there was already a completely different person - a slender, pretty girl with dark hair to the shoulders in bright modern clothes. Devils are dancing in the eyes. It’s hard to believe that such a girl was attracted to the hijab and Muslim marriage.
Parents and lawyer Alexander Karabanov (hired during the search and who took the most part in them Active participation) have already been promoted new version: The girl was recruited to help recruit others.
Agree, this is very subtle. I went to ISIS not to kill, but to recruit. Choosing the right lawyer is very important. Let's remember how easily he manipulated public opinion Richard Gere as a lawyer in the musical "Chicago". Varvara, like the heroine of the musical Roxie Hart, has her own personal Miss Sunshine - a journalist who demands her acquittal, impressed by stories about a love affair by correspondence.
However, the public did not like this version either. Almost all the comments under articles and posts about Vara were full of popular anger: whatever one may say, it turns out that she was going to be an accomplice of ISIS. However, Karaulova’s former lawyer believes that not everything is so simple.
I am sure that during the recruitment she was subjected to serious indoctrination, instilling in her various obsessions,” Karabanov noted in a conversation with me. - A mentally healthy person will never become involved in the ideas of terrorist organizations. I believe that a professional recruiter, who is a psychologist, finds a hole in a person’s psyche and, like a virus, begins to introduce his ideas into him. Varvara is clearly a disliked child who lacks human attention and love. It was by identifying this that the recruiter went through the creation of a relationship. All gigolos use this same method, only they steal money. So she came up with an illusion for herself and began to live with super ideas. Since she is from a financially prosperous family, she could not be attracted to money or a career.Each person has his own Achilles heel for manipulation, any psychologist will confirm this.
Previously, the lawyer also spoke about the possible medicinal effect on the client: in his opinion, they could have been used psychotropic substances a new type that cannot yet be detected in the blood.
This interesting version, however, it also has weaknesses. It is not very clear why one would spend so much effort and time on recruiting the rich girl Varvara Karaulova, when in Russia there are a sufficient number of Muslim girls from poor families who would be happy to marry a small bride price - a ring or a sewing machine.
However, Karabanov believes that ISIS needed the major Varya.
This is the trick - a good reference group (MSU student - Note Life), he assured me. “She would be an excellent recruiter herself.” Roughly speaking, Varya is a good role model. Girls of her age may well follow her. She is bright, talkative, and has a convincing image.
Second weakness in the lawyer's theory - dislike of Karaulova. It is clear that the divorce of parents is an unpleasant event in the life of every child, but there is a feeling that Pavel and Kira separated in a completely civilized manner; they themselves say that they took an equal part in raising their daughter. And they stood up to defend her with a united front. Here the lawyer declined to comment in detail.
But a source who wished to remain anonymous, but who observed Karaulova’s parents at press conferences, noted in a conversation with me: “There was a feeling that ex-spouses They compete, as if each wants to prove to the other that he is the best parent."
Well, in that case, Varya’s mother, Kira, wins for now. It was her version, already the third in a row, that turned out to be more tenacious and effective. After Varya was again detained by security forces, her mother stated that her daughter had no idea of working for ISIS, but was simply traveling to her beloved with stockings and lace underwear. The same version was picked up by new lawyers.
Myth about universal soldier started to debunk: yes, martial arts studied. But she didn’t like them, she was more interested in rowing - why rowing in ISIS? Yes, I studied Arabic, but I only mastered the alphabet - how many recruits can you use it? Yes, there was correspondence, but it was about the explosions in Kazan in passing, it was more about wonderful feelings. Whether mother’s female intuition, new lawyers, or this version was born out of despair, helped the mother, but people liked the story about love much more than the story about recruitment. The meme “running to ISIS in lace panties” was not even born, although how it suggested itself here. Even the Koran retreats before the power of love.
Love is a heartfelt attraction that does not obey the will of a person, even if he wanted to give it up. Therefore, Shariah does not provide a solution that would allow or prohibit love. Sharia sanctions are applied only when a man and woman violate established religious prohibitions. If there is heartfelt love between them and the intention to enter into a legal marriage in the future, then there is no sin on him or her, the book “Sex and Love in Islam” assures us.
Even the townsfolk noticeably warmed up to Varya: well, the girl fell in love with everyone. Varya added color to the image in court: she didn’t just go to her beloved, she didn’t just want to get married, but she passionately wanted to have children from him! Her dad also clung to this version. There are also hints that this is the very first. The purest love. That's 19 years old these days.
It really feels like we are being taken for fools. Varya’s clear, correct speech and mischievous look smash this theory to smithereens. Undoubtedly, if you wish, you can make any girl fall in love with you. Grigory Rasputin also shared his recipe for success with women: in every remote Siberian village there lives a girl who has read novels and dreams of love, you just need to come and give her this love. Only Karaulova lives not in a bear corner, but in Moscow, her circle of friends is wide - football fans, classmates, fellow students, athletes. It’s hard to imagine that among them there wasn’t a real object to admire. It is even more difficult to believe that love of such strength (which pulled Varya all the way to the border of Syria and Turkey) had no basis in any physical contact.
From the wreckage of numerous versions, you can construct your own.
So, there is a girl - active, precocious, who wants to prove to her parents that she is no longer a child. The official career does not particularly attract her: where others climb for years, she found herself at birth. She sees her recognition in something else - in something more interesting, adventurous, mysterious. Maybe she wants to become an international woman of mystery? Or the Russian heroine of the famous film by Luc Besson “Her Name was Nikita”?
Otherwise, where does this mysterious passion for changing names come from - first Varya, then Amina, then Nur, and now Alexandra Ivanova. The outfits also change - at home they wear ordinary European clothes, at the university they wear a hijab. Faith and beliefs change - atheist, feminist, Orthodox, Muslim.
My international passport mysteriously disappears - was it either taken away, or stolen, or lost, or maybe even destroyed? All the features of a spy novel are present, where the main character is as elusive as mercury.
Perhaps we would read about Vara now in completely different chronicles if dad had not managed to intercept her in Turkey. There is a key moment in the film "Nikita" (as in the first episode of the series based on it). The main character, who has been molded into an ideal fighter for years, comes to the restaurant with her mentor. By the way, there are clearly feelings between them too. She receives a loaded pistol as a gift and a task - to kill and get out through the window in the toilet. Having carried out the order, she opens the window and sees that it is walled up. In real life this would be the end of the activity, but in the movies, of course, this is just the beginning.
So, Varvara Karaulova is Nikita, who did not have time to open the window.
* Organization is banned in Russia Supreme Court RF.
Yesterday morning we were waiting for Pavel Karaulov in our editorial office. He had to come and tell a narrow circle of journalists about how they managed to bring Varya home. I am sure that this would be the best support for those whose relatives still remain there - in the world radical Islam. Unfortunately, the interview did not take place. At the last moment, Pavel refused the meeting. It's a pity.
But the day before, he presented a so-called press release, according to which a conversation with journalists was to take place. In it, he honestly and openly wrote how Varya ended up in the hands of recruiters, how she was returned home, and to whom Pavel is grateful for having rediscovered his beloved daughter.
Permission to partially publish this letter was given to us by the lawyer of the Karaulov family, Alexander Karabanov. The result of the meeting with journalists, to which Varya’s father did not come, was supposed to be a “truthful and full information first-hand. We fully support this principle by publishing the message verbatim.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
It all started back in 2013. Varya met a boy on the Internet. The range of interests was close, and the slightly hooligan morals of the teenager only fueled the interest of the excellent student.
Daily virtual communication steadily led to the rekindling of seemingly mutual feelings. And now words of sympathy and love began to flash. As a result of long-term communication, during which the boy was repeatedly offered personal meetings, for which Varya was not ready, feelings grew, topics of common interests arose: football, fitness, martial arts. Quite skillfully the conversation turned to Islam - true values!
As a result of long and skillful processing, which took place against the background of romantic interest, interest in Islam grew into a desire to become part of it.
After the boy disappeared for almost 2 months, the resulting emptiness was perceived as extremely painful. And then, one day, he appeared again. He invited his already fiancée to the country of modern dreams, revolutionary aspirations and purity! Varya couldn’t resist, especially since all the technical aspects had already been thought out.
CHRONICLE OF EVENTS
May 27 - Varya went to Moscow State University and did not return home. That same night, based on the parents’ appeal to the local department, an investigation team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs went to the place of residence. I received an SMS from Varya asking me to take the dog for a walk.
May 28 - Varya’s parents submitted applications to law enforcement agencies, the Russian Foreign Ministry, and other structures state power. Information about the missing child was posted on social networks. An email was received from Varya.
May 29 – The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the receipt of Varya’s foreign passport. Aeroflot informed about the purchase of a ticket in the name of Vari and a flight to Istanbul (Turkey).
May 30 – Varya’s parents submitted an application to Interpol, the Turkish Embassy in the Russian Federation. Appeals sent to international organizations for searching and rescuing people. All friends and acquaintances, acquaintances of acquaintances, simply empathetic people were raised to their feet. There was an appeal to the media. The crossing of the Varey border at Ataturk Airport has been confirmed by the Turkish authorities.
May 31 – Vari’s presence is confirmed in certain areas of Istanbul. A decision was made to immediately fly my father to Turkey. Reposts of the publication on social networks reached 20,000.
June 1 – According to information from Turkey, coming from various sources, Varya may already be in another city, so the decision on departure is in question.
June 2 – Active communication and exchange of information with caring people around the world, volunteers. A huge amount of information about how recruitment and transfer to Syrian territory not controlled by the official authorities takes place from Turkey. Father flies to Turkey. That same evening, the first complaint was filed with the airport police.
June 3 - From the very morning in Istanbul, with the help of friends and a lawyer, the father goes through the entire necessary procedural process in Turkey: Prosecutor's Office - Judiciary - Special Unit of the Turkish Police. From that day on, the search began with everyone's efforts law enforcement Turkey.
June 4 – According to billing mobile phone, the father, accompanied by friends and journalists, visits various, including remote areas of Istanbul, in search of his daughter. People from countries are interviewed former USSR, and conversations are also held with mullahs of mosques in all surrounding areas.
In the evening of the same day, information is received about the detention of a group of immigrants from Russia and Azerbaijan on the border with Syria. The police identified Varya in one of the detainees!
June 5 – A group of detainees, according to information from the police, moves from Kilis to Batman. At the same time, the group makes an intermediate stop and should appear in the city of Batman the very next day, June 6.
June 7 – The location of the group is finally established: Batman, migration department, reinforced security zone. Meeting with representatives of the Russian diaspora in Istanbul. The father decides to fly to Batman.
June 8 – We start at 4 am - departure to Diyarbakir and further transfer to Batman. At 12:00 a meeting took place with the head of the migration service. Permission was received to meet my daughter. At 16:20 the long-awaited meeting took place. All doubts disappeared. Varya is alive and well!
June 9 – Repeated meeting with overcoming all bureaucratic procedures. Meeting time - 5 minutes, bureaucratic procedures - 4 hours.
June 10 – Negotiations with employees of the migration service and police about Varya’s flight to her homeland. The negotiations lasted about 7 hours and ended with a clear plan for departure to Russia along the route: Batman-Diyarbakir-Istanbul-Moscow.
QUESTION ANSWER
Two days before the meeting, journalists sent their questions to Pavel Karaulov (PK). He answered some of them in good faith. Some of these answers were confirmed to us by the family’s lawyer Alexander Karabanov (AK).
- Where is Varvara now and how is she feeling?
PC: Varya is at home, surrounded by loved ones.
-Have you noticed that Varvara is interested in radical Islam?
PC: For us, what was happening was a complete revelation!
AK: The only thing the family noticed was that Varya took off the Orthodox cross from her chest. But then no one attached any importance to this. Now parents understand that this was the point of no return.
- When did she start wearing a hijab?
PC: Presumably in September-October 2014, putting it on after leaving the house.
-Who did she communicate with? Who in Moscow could formulate a new attitude towards life and religion in her?
PC: Unfortunately, the social circle at MSU did not develop. Thus, there remained the Internet, social networks, WhatsApp groups (Internet messenger - a program for exchanging quick messages - Ed.), etc.
- What is your relationship with your daughter now?
PC: The relationship is still trusting. Her words “Dad, I was wrong!” - the most important words I have heard in recent years!
- Has Varya changed after what happened?
PC: There are certain changes, but at heart she is still a girl, Varya! Beloved daughter! And I don't blame her! She had suffered enough and realized her mistake.
- Will Varya continue her studies?
PC: Of course. Will it be MSU or another educational institution, it’s too early to say.
- Did Varvara convert to Islam?
PC: I respect any choice my daughter makes. There is no definite certainty that Islam is her final choice, but she has the right to make this choice on her own! On my part, she will always find support and understanding!
- Was a survey conducted during the pre-investigation check?
PC: The survey was conducted in a home environment. All answers were absolutely honest and frank.
AK: Varya was interviewed immediately upon arrival in Moscow. She gave a full account of how the events took place.
- The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation may bring charges against Varvara, and what are you going to do about this?
PC: There’s nothing to blame Varya for! There is no evidence, nor is there the slightest reason to open a case against Varya.
AK: Varya is in no danger! She is a victim, not an accused.
MOSCOW, December 22 - RIA Novosti. The Moscow District Military Court on Thursday sentenced him to 4.5 years in prison general regime former Moscow State University student Alexandra Ivanova (Varvara Karaulova), who tried to escape to the Islamic State group banned in the Russian Federation.
Speaking with the last word, the girl repented of her actions, but recalled that she never intended to fight or participate in terrorist attacks, but was going to her loved one to marry him.
The girl’s defense appealed the verdict, said lawyer Sergei Badamshin. The Presidential Council for Human Rights stated that they would monitor Karaulova's case, as they are concerned about her fate and consider her a victim of terrorism.
Escape and return
The story of the girl’s escape appeared in the media in early June 2015, when it became known that Varvara Karaulova, a 19-year-old second-year student at the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, had gone missing.
Then it was possible to quickly establish that the girl, who was keen on studying Islam and the Arabic language, secretly from her parents obtained a foreign passport and on May 27, instead of going to lectures, flew to Istanbul; Turkish authorities confirmed her arrival in the country. On the evening of the same day, she sent her mother an SMS asking her to walk the dog, after which contact with her was interrupted. After that, nothing was known about her for more than a week; she was put on the international wanted list.
Some information suggested that the girl was the victim of recruiters associated with the extremist group "Islamic State".
Her father Pavel Karaulov also flew to Istanbul to search, but he had practically no information about where to look for his daughter. He said that he does not have contacts of the “connectors” who transport everyone who wants to join the “Islamic State” through Istanbul to Syria, but experts are trying to open Varvara’s pages on social networks to get some clues.
As a rule, a person who decided to go to the “caliphate” created by IS in Syria and Iraq received contacts of a “connector” in Turkey, which has a visa-free regime for citizens of many countries, including Russia. Upon arrival in Turkey, the newly minted “jihadist” received bus tickets to the border with Syria and contacts of a new “connector” who would ensure illegal passage to Syria. This usually happened in the areas of the Turkish cities of Hatay and Gaziantep in the southwest of the country - in this region the Syrian border is under the control of militants.
At the same time, the ranks of militants were often joined not by “experienced” extremists, but by those who, at first glance, are difficult to suspect of striving for jihad. So Karaulova was characterized positively by her Moscow circle.
The search for the missing student lasted about 10 days. As a result, it was discovered where it was expected - in the area of the Turkish-Syrian border. As it became known, Karaulova was found thanks to Interpol.
On June 11, the girl, accompanied by representatives of Interpol and the Turkish migration service, flew to Istanbul from eastern Turkey, where she was held for several days in a migration center in the city of Batman. From Istanbul, on an Aeroflot flight, Karaulova and her father went to Moscow.
At home
On June 22, the lawyer for Karaulova’s family reported that all investigative measures with the girl had been completed and she was being investigated in the case of her alleged recruitment into the Islamic State solely as a witness.
Upon returning to her homeland, Karaulova went on academic leave. She spent several months at home and even changed her first and last name to Alexandra Ivanova to avoid increased attention.
Karaulova was examined at the Mental Health Research Institute, where she was prescribed antidepressants and an antipsychotic drug. At the end of July it became known that investigative committee Russia did not initiate a criminal case against Karaulova.
According to the girl’s father, after returning, his daughter collaborated with the FSB. The intelligence services kept an eye on her, installed special equipment on her equipment, and conducted conversations. According to him, this had too strong an impact on her psyche, and she asked to take away all means of communication and protect her from the Internet.
Continuation of a story
For several months, this story was not continued in the media, until on October 27, the lawyer of the Karaulov family, Alexander Karabanov, announced the arrest of those suspected of recruiting the girl. Then investigators called Varvara Karaulova to testify in the recruitment case.
Information appeared in the media that Varvara continues to maintain contact with terrorists. In particular, with her lover, who recruited her. It was reported that the special services searched the apartment where the girl lives and found irrefutable evidence of her guilt.
The very next day after the arrest of those suspected of recruiting the girl, the court authorized her arrest; it became known that she was suspected of preparing to participate in a terrorist organization - under Articles 30 and 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The maximum sanction for this article of the Criminal Code is 10 years in prison, and the minimum is five years, subject to recognition of guilt and cooperation with the investigation.
Both the investigation and the defense did not dispute the factual side of the case - the girl corresponded on social networks with an ISIS recruiter - but they differed in their assessment of her motives. The FSB investigator indicated that in this way she was preparing to move to Syria; lawyers - that all negotiations took place under the control of the special services and with their knowledge.
On November 10, at a meeting of the Moscow City Court, the investigation formally charged Ivanova (Karaulova) with attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Victim or culprit?
At that moment, the girl fully admitted her guilt. The Moscow City Court refused to release her from the pre-trial detention center; the judge did not listen to the arguments of her father, who considered her act to be a consequence of falling in love, or the lawyers, who called the girl both “a victim of the Islamic State, and a victim of our investigation,” and “a pawn in the FSB’s game.”
The girl’s father, Pavel Karaulov, questioned as a witness in the Moscow City Court, said that already at the very first meeting with him in Turkey, Varvara admitted that she had made a mistake.
After the father’s story and the defense’s presentation, which insisted that confinement in a pre-trial detention center is too strict a measure in this case, and the necessary degree of isolation can be obtained under house arrest, the FSB investigator took the turn to speak. He presented his version of events. According to him, the girl allegedly planned to flee again to the Islamic State: “Already two months later, when the security authorities returned her equipment to her, she again entered into correspondence with an IS member.”
“In the correspondence, she was preparing to try again to penetrate the territory of the Islamic State, and was working on the appropriate possibilities,” the investigator noted.
At the same time, the girl did not have a foreign passport, and she had already been extradited from Turkey. According to the FSB representative, the girl decided to change her first and last name precisely in order to obtain new documents. Ivanova (Karaulova), according to him, admitted all this during interrogation.
In January 2016, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) of the Russian Federation denied allegations that appeared in the media that Moscow State University student Alexandra Ivanova (Varvara Karaulova) communicated with an IS recruiter allegedly on instructions from the special services, calling such allegations speculation.
And already on February 8 it became known that the girl refused to confess. Her lawyer, Gadzhi Aliyev, then noted that the case contains Ivanova’s confessional testimony, which she gave while her interests were represented by a public defender.
“She refused to confess. There was a repeated detailed interrogation of her, where she told about what she did and how she did it. She does not see guilt in her actions, she had no intention or preparation to join ISIS,” the defense lawyer said.
On August 29, it became known that the preliminary investigation into the case had been completed.
Consideration on the merits
During the presentation of evidence for the prosecution, the prosecutor's office interrogated classmates and teachers of the defendant, who confirmed that in Lately Karaulova came to the university in a hijab. The court also heard testimony from the girls detained along with the defendant in the case, who were planning to illegally cross the border of Turkey and Russia, who stated that Karaulova was in love, was going to Syria to see her fiance, and they knew nothing about her intentions to join the Islamic State.
On November 17, the court interrogated the girl, who said that she had been communicating with her recruiter Airat Samatov since the 10th grade and at first thought that he was not a Muslim, but a pagan. According to her, in 2014, topics related to Islam began to appear. After these conversations, she became interested and converted to Islam herself.
According to the girl, during her passion for Islam, she “got married” via Skype to Syrian fighter, however, when he stopped communicating with her, she was so upset that she “married” another militant via Skype and went to join him in Syria. She also stated that she knew that FSB officers were reading her correspondence with the recruiter.
According to the girl, she admitted her guilt at the investigation stage due to the persuasion of the investigator, who promised her a minimum punishment in this case.
On November 18, it became known that Ivanova (Karaulova) is no longer a student at Lomonosov Moscow State University, as she was expelled from the university of her own free will in the fall of 2016.
On December 8, in court, during the debate between the parties, the prosecutor asked Karaulova for five years in a general regime colony and a fine of 150 thousand rubles. Lawyers insisted on acquittal. On December 21, Karaulova made her last statement in court. The defendant repented of her actions, but recalled that she never intended to fight or participate in terrorist attacks, but was going to her loved one to marry him.
On December 22, the Moscow District Military Court found Alexandra Ivanova (Varvara Karaulova) guilty of attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist group and sentenced her to four and a half years in a general regime colony.
A little later, the girl’s defense stated that the verdict was appealed.
HRC is concerned
The Presidential Council for Human Rights will monitor the case of the former Moscow State University student, the head of the Human Rights Council, Mikhail Fedotov, told RIA Novosti. He emphasized that he considers it inadmissible for himself to comment judgment before it comes into force.
“Together with HRC member Elizaveta Glinka, we repeatedly visited Varya Karaulova in the pre-trial detention center, talked to her, tried to help her understand herself, dramatic story her life. “In my deep conviction, Varvara Karaulova is a victim in a case related to terrorism, she is one of the victims of terrorism,” Fedotov said.
“We will follow this case, of course. This story is deeply important to us, we are very concerned about the fate of this young girl,” the human rights activist added.
HRC member Elizaveta Glinka, known as Dr. Lisa, believes that the sentence of former Moscow State University student Alexandra Ivanova (Varvara Karaulova) does not fit with the impression she made on human rights activists during visits by HRC members to the pre-trial detention center.
Illustration copyright AFP Image caption Varvara Karaulova has been in prison for more than a year
In the Moscow District Military Court, the defendant herself spoke at the trial of Moscow State University student Varvara Karaulova, who is accused of trying to join the Islamic State group banned in Russia, after which she was interrogated for three hours by presiding judge Alexander Ababkov.
In fact, the court and the public for the first time heard the story of Varvara Karaulova in her own presentation and in all its details: from the moment she met her future lover, who persuaded her to convert to Islam, and then became the reason for her failed escape to Syria, and to interrogations in the investigative department of the FSB, where, according to her, investigator Aguzarov tricked her into admitting her guilt.
Judge Ababkov did not limit her story in any way. Moreover, when the prosecution and defense each asked Karaulova several questions, the judge began the interrogation himself, thoroughly asking the defendant about all the points and details that she missed in her speech.
Varvara Karaulova, who officially changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova last September, is accused of “preparing to participate in the activities of a terrorist organization.”
A student at the Faculty of Philosophy of Lomonosov Moscow State University disappeared in May 2015. It soon became clear that she secretly flew to Turkey and was detained there while trying to cross the border into Syria. She was deported from Turkey to her homeland, came under FSB surveillance and was arrested in October last year after intelligence services believed that she continued to communicate with an Islamic State recruiter and was allegedly hatching plans to escape to Syria again.
At the beginning of the trial, Karaulova (Ivanova) announced that she was refusing to confess and did not plead guilty.
First groom
As Varvara Karaulova presents it, all her misadventures are the story of her virtual love story with a young man named Vlad, whom she met in a group of CSKA fans social network"VKontakte", whom she had never met "in real life" and who ultimately turned out to be the not-so-young Islamic State militant Airat Samatov.
"Just a person with whom I liked to talk, about football, about everyday affairs. This correspondence became more and more significant for me. Sympathy grew into love. He did not send any photographs, I thought he was shy. Now it seems to me that he deliberately did so that we could not meet,” says Varvara (Alexandra).
Despite the 100% virtuality of the novel, these relationships very quickly began to influence real life girls.
The “young man” was furiously jealous of any male representatives, so Varvara, according to her, at some point stopped greeting men altogether.
"In February or March 2014, topics related to Islam began to creep into his mind. Before that, he positioned himself as a person professing neo-paganism. I thought it was some kind of cultural direction. And then the topics of Islam appeared,” the defendant said.
Illustration copyright AFP Image caption At the beginning of the trial, Varvara Karaulova stated that she refused to confess and did not consider herself guilty of the charges brought against her.Varvara Karaulova liked Islam. At the trial, she was unable to clearly explain why, except that her sympathies were aroused by the status of a woman among devout Muslims. According to her, in Islam the husband takes full care of his wife and children, so that a woman can feel under reliable protection in any circumstances.
Step by step and through religious conversations with her boyfriend, whom she then mistook for “Vlad,” Varvara came to the decision to convert to Islam.
“I converted to Islam. Samatov said that he had converted to Islam before that, but he didn’t want to tell me. After that, he told me that he wanted to go to the Islamic State and fight for their ideals. I decided to beg him to marry me, so that I could leave with him,” the accused admitted.
Second groom
After this, Airat Samatov, according to Karaulova, actually left for Syria, warning that he would not be able to communicate for some time.
“It was a difficult moment for me. Then I realized that I love this man very much and cannot imagine my life without him,” the girl emphasized once again.
At that time, she did not dare to tell her parents either about her love or about her new religion: “The relationship was not very trusting, so I did not know how to say it.”
According to Varvara, at one time she similarly kept her decision to become a vegetarian secret from her parents.
And then a certain girl, “either a Kazakh or a Bashkir,” came out to her with the question “how are things with Airat?”
“I immediately realized that we were talking about a person whom I knew as Vlad,” Karaulova assures. “I always expected meanness or a setup from him. For me, it was like a piano fell on my head. It was insulting and difficult.”
In a fit of jealousy and resentment, she not only immediately deleted all their correspondence on social networks, but also rushed to look for a new groom - in a group of Muslim women in the WhatsApp messenger.
"I wrote that I don’t mind getting married. They told me that there is such a Nadir. He wrote to me, we talked once, I said that I agree to marry him. The marriage took place via Skype. Only my consent was required, and this can be said that the marriage was concluded,” says the girl.
Nadir - by the way, fought in the ranks of the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, considered in Russia - even managed to send her money for the trip to Syria.
However, here - in April 2015 - Ayrat Samatov again got in touch with her very timely, explaining his long silence by saying that he was trained in the Islamic State.
Samatov quickly and convincingly convinced Karaulova that the marriage via Skype was not valid, after which she said goodbye to Nadir, not forgetting to return the money.
Third groom
The story of Varvara Karaulova’s third groom is the most foggy. She continued to communicate with Airat, but at the same time she felt his unreliability, so she managed for the second time in two months to decide on the adventure of “blind marriage.”
“I really didn’t care who I married. Of course, I wanted Samatov, but then the relationship was unclear, I thought that I would find him somewhere, that everything would work out. The main thing for me was to get married for a Muslim, because I thought that they treated women differently, that they would not leave their wife,” she assures.
The people who promised to find her a Muslim husband turned out to be obligatory, and on May 27, 2015, Varvara received a plane ticket to Istanbul, departing on the same day. All she had to do was pack her things and follow the instructions.
In Turkey, she was transported from city to city, from apartment to apartment, in the company of other women who, like her, were going to join their fiancés or husbands in Syria, the territory of the Islamic State.
Only at this moment did Airat Samatov finally admit to Varvara who he really was and sent her his real photographs. However, after a couple of days he took back his words, calling it a “test.”
“I was constantly crying there, I didn’t know how to behave,” Varvara told the court (and even actually shed a tear). The greatest emotions of the current Alexandra Ivanova were caused by memories of how her parents rushed to look for her - according to her, she did not expect such a reaction from them to her flight.
Karaulova did not make it to Syria - she was detained at the border by Turkish border guards, who sent her to a center for illegal migrants, from where her father Pavel Karaulov, who came to pick her up, pulled her out with some problems.
“The FSB officers took us straight from the plane. They asked about Samatov. At that moment I already realized that I had gotten involved in such an adventure, that I didn’t want to communicate with anyone, not with Samatov, or with anyone,” said Varvara Karaulova.
Overweight
As Varvara Karaulova presents it, the ending of her story looks simple. First she was admitted to one psychiatric hospital, then to a second, where, with the help of antidepressants, she managed to bring herself back to her senses.
“I left the hospital, I felt better, I wanted to reset my life, start over. I started running, learning Korean. But I couldn’t fix myself in this state. Depression, emptiness, loneliness began to return again. I sat at home all the time,” - she says.
At the same time, she began to gain weight, which further aggravated her depression.
"I began to gain a lot of weight. Weight is generally a big problem throughout my teenage life. I always considered myself well-fed. I always started eating when I had problems, gained weight, and it only got worse. In two weeks I gained about 15 kg, my complexes got worse, and I felt lonely. I even continued to run, but continued to gain weight,” Varvara complains.
And then she “lost it” - she went to check her VKontakte account and found a lot of messages from Samatov.
“Through him, I tried to get rid of this depression, I no longer believed him in anything, his views frightened me. If earlier I reported to him about every step, now I didn’t tell him about anything or deceived him,” she assures.
Karaulova admitted that she once wrote to Samatov that she still wanted to come to him in Syria, but now she assures that in fact she didn’t think so then, but only wrote what Samatov expected to hear from her.
At the end of September of that year, she admitted to her mother that she could not cope with this pathological addiction on her own, and she took away all the gadgets with which she could access the Internet.
“I started taking medication again, turned to a psychoanalyst. I started playing volleyball three times a week, went and learned cross-stitch, studied the language. I taught French,” Varvara lists.
And, nevertheless, on October 27, 2015, at six in the morning, riot police came to them, the apartment was searched, and Varvara herself was put under arrest.
“They didn’t offer to change clothes”
A thorough interrogation of Karaulova by judge Alexander Ababkin, which at times seemed either too harsh or humorous to the point of “trolling,” showed that the defendant missed a number of details in her story that make the ending of her story by no means so clear-cut.
The current Alexandra Ivanova - although more than a year has passed since then - still cannot give a clear answer about her attitude towards Islam.
At first, after returning from Turkey, she continued to wear Muslim clothing, giving it up only after leaving the hospital.
“Did your parents offer to change your clothes?” - the judge asked her a question.
“They didn’t offer to change clothes,” Karaulova answered. “I didn’t always wear a hijab. I wore a headscarf if I only went outside, but at home I wore regular clothes.”
Only after the hospital did she realize that she no longer felt the need to dress like a Muslim.
“After being discharged, I completely stopped practicing Islam, I didn’t read prayer, I didn’t fast. When I started communicating with him (Samatov), I thought that I should. After they took away my gadgets, I stopped thinking about Islam again,” she assures.
After her arrest, the girl’s father, Pavel Karaulov, assured that back in Turkey, Karaulova admitted that she had made a mistake. According to Karaulov, after returning from Turkey, the girl actively cooperated with the investigation and corresponded with an IS recruiter under the supervision of FSB officers.
Varvara Karaulova confirmed the words about the “mistake,” but cooperation with the FSB turned out to be not so clear-cut. Karaulova firmly stated that she did not like the idea of corresponding with Samatov under the dictation of the special services, so she used “emoticons” that were atypical for herself. And then she completely openly told Samatov that the FSB was interested in him.
Karaulova explained her initial confession as fear. According to her, investigators threatened to “give her 20 years” and said that admitting guilt was the only way to lighten the sentence.
Then, as the defendant says, she got new lawyers who convinced her to “tell the truth,” so she no longer felt afraid at trial.
Judge Ababkin asked with a chuckle whether this was to be understood as a compliment to his panel of judges, after which he granted the state prosecution’s request to read out Karaulova’s testimony given during the preliminary investigation.
1 August 2016, 18:20The investigation into the case of Varvara Karaulova, a student at the Moscow State University Faculty of Philosophy, accusing her of preparing to participate in the terrorist organization “Islamic State” is coming to an end - the trial will begin in the fall. IN exclusive interview from the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center Varvara Karaulova told Zoya Svetova that she did not intend to be a terrorist, what she was doing in prison and what she would do when she was released
- More than six months have passed since you are in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. What is the most difficult thing about being in prison for you?
The most difficult thing is that there is no opportunity to talk to family, hug, touch. From household ones there is little movement. The feeling of being thrown out of life. You can't even catch Pokemon here. Everyone catches it, 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 minimum tasks for the day that I must have time to complete. Apart from household chores like washing and cleaning, I mostly read. I read several books at the same time, like artistic content, and educational literature. IN this moment- “History of the Russian State” by Karamzin. I read in the newspaper that Eskashniks (arrested employees of the Investigative Committee, who are also being held in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. - Open Russia) They asked for historical literature from the library, and they brought Pikul. 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, “The Theory of State and Law” by Marchenko. As for languages, I am currently trying to learn Hebrew. In addition, I try to play sports - mostly while walking.
- How do you perceive the prison experience?
To perceive this situation as an experience, you need to experience it to the end. And this is not experience, but reality. Although, undoubtedly, it helped me rethink a lot. I hope I can use this for good.
The investigation of your case is coming to an end, you will soon get acquainted with the materials, and the trial is just around the corner. As far as we know from the media, you went to Syria to meet a person you fell in love with by correspondence, and did not suspect anything wrong. What is your position on the case?
My position on the case is to convey the truth. It is difficult to formulate this in a couple of phrases. One thing I can say for sure: I did not intend to become a terrorist, and now it horrifies and depresses me that I allegedly have something to do with terrible events. At that time, all the negativity towards IS 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 Islamic laws prevail. But then they began to commit actions that are not consistent with the ideas of Islam with which they hide behind. IS is making cowardly, vile attacks against those who have done nothing to them.
You really didn’t understand politics and didn’t imagine that you were going to a place where a terrible war was going on? Didn't it scare you, or did the adventure attract you?
Now I understand more about politics than I would like. On my own, I had little interest in politics before. In many ways, she relied not on facts, but on the opinions of other people. Now I perceive with some misunderstanding how it even occurred to me to get involved in such an adventure, how I could trust those people then. Now I have no doubt that this was a big mistake. I am very guilty before my family, before myself. I keep thinking in my head of when I could tell myself to stop. There were signs that I was doing wrong, but I turned a blind eye to everything, succumbing to emotions and feelings. I regret that I made the wrong choice at that moment. I understand that I'm not in the right place right now better position, but my life 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 it would be easier to start over again, erasing this story from our lives. And my last name and first name could attract unnecessary attention. At that time, I felt pressure due to the enormous media attention, which simply scared me. I don’t associate myself with the new name and surname, but at some point it helps me to abstract myself, that is, this is not happening to me, but to a certain Sasha Ivanova. That’s why my cellmates address me that way, by my new name. The parcels are brought in the name of Alexandra Ivanova, but Varya Karaulova is not in the pre-trial detention center. In the future I would like to return mine real name and name, return, as investigators and the court say, “identifying data.”
- When this whole story is over, what would you like to do with your life?
I would like to bring to life everything that I previously 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.
