Dr. Sofia Rosenfeld, a Russian scientist who also holds Israeli citizenship, was sentenced to three and a half years in a penal colony by Moscow's Gagarinsky District Court last Wednesday after being convicted of financing an "extremist organization," it emerged on Monday.
According to the indictment, the charges concerned two donations of 1,000 rubles each, approximately NIS 30-35 per donation, to the Anti-Corruption Foundation associated with Alexei Navalny.
Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, founded the organization, which published investigations into government corruption in Russia over the years. Russian authorities designated the foundation an "extremist organization" in 2021. Navalny died in a Russian prison in February 2024.
According to a courtroom report by Mediazona, an independent Russian-language online news outlet, Rosenfeld said she did not intend to support extremism but wanted to help fight corruption.
"Even in my work, which involves scientific research and nature conservation, I have seen what monstrous forms this evil can take," she said.
When the judge asked her, "What, don't we have law enforcement agencies for that?" she replied that public assistance also had a place.
Rosenfeld argues time in Arctic made her unaware of transfers
Rosenfeld argued that she had been out of contact with the outside world while participating in a scientific expedition in the northern Arctic when the transfers were made from her account. She said she canceled the standing payment order as soon as she learned that the foundation had been outlawed.
According to Mediazona, she is the third woman known to receive a prison sentence for making small donations to the foundation.
She was taken into custody immediately after the hearing. She is currently being held in Moscow pending a decision on whether to transfer her to a penal colony.
Her lawyers intend to appeal the sentence, although an appeal hearing is not expected for several weeks at the earliest.
Rosenfeld, 50, holds an advanced doctorate in biology and is a senior researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
She immigrated to Israel with her family in 1990, when she was 14, but found it difficult to leave her life and studies in Moscow behind.
While in Israel, she studied from books mailed to her so she would not fall behind the Russian curriculum. After about a year and a half, she persuaded her parents to let her return.
She has lived in Moscow ever since, initially staying with her grandmother and aunt.
"She really loved studying in Russia and wanted to go back," said her father, Boris Rosenfeld, 78, who lives in Israel.
"I feel very bad. It's a serious shock for me and for her," he said. "She didn't expect the punishment to be so severe."
Although Dr. Sofia Rosenfeld built her professional life in Russia, she retained her Israeli citizenship throughout the years, maintained close ties with her family, and visited Israel frequently.
Doctor traveled to Israel every year, father says
According to her father, she traveled to Israel every year. In her younger years, she even represented Israel in international equestrian competitions.
She previously worked with wildlife researchers in Israel, volunteered at the Hula birdwatching center, and is also known to staff at the bird-ringing center in Eilat.
About three or four years ago, she and her partner, Arthur, 53, also her research colleague, produced a nature documentary about Israel titled The Country Without Hunting, available in Russian and English on YouTube.
The couple has no children.
Rosenfeld graduated from Moscow University in 1998 with a degree in biology, specializing in vertebrate zoology, and has worked as a researcher at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution ever since.
Her research focuses on Arctic waterfowl, including geese, ducks, and swans, and involves expeditions to remote areas within the Arctic Circle.
Early in her career, she also worked on Wrangel Island.
A light aircraft was specially built for her research, which she uses to count birds and track migration routes.
"Over ten research seasons, she and her team covered more than 100,000 kilometers in the light aircraft across the Arctic and on their way there," her father said.
Her father, a mathematician and retiree of Israel Aerospace Industries and its subsidiary Elta, worked in Israel's defense industry for 25 years.
He worked on the Arrow and Iron Dome projects, along with other defense programs.
Sofia's mother, an electronics engineer, died nine years ago. Her brother, Lev, 49, lives in Israel.
The last conversation between Rosenfeld and her father took place the day before the hearing.
"She told me she hoped it would end with a fine or community service," he recalled.
"I told her, 'Good luck.' Neither she nor her lawyers expected an actual prison sentence."
Since the sentencing, communication between them has been limited to email, with exchanges taking place sparingly and under highly restrictive conditions.
Her father said he was pessimistic about the appeal prospects.
"I find it hard to believe she'll be acquitted. Maybe they'll reduce the sentence by a few months; I don't know. The hope is that the public attention will have a positive effect."
After the indictment was filed, Sofia contacted the Israeli Embassy in Moscow to request assistance.
Following her imprisonment, her father contacted the Foreign Ministry.
He said he was informed that an Israeli consular official could visit her if she submitted a formal request.
"I want her to be here in Israel," he said.
"That's what I'm asking for: that they help her leave Russia and come to Israel."