Joking correspondence in the messenger became the reason for opening a case on “preparation to go over to the side of the enemy” against 21-year-old Russian Savely Frolov. Frolov's friend Nikita told The Insider about this. According to him, before the case was brought against Frolov, FSB officers came to him. They explained to him that they figured him out by billing, and during the interrogation they tried to gain access to his phone using special equipment. The security forces told him that he was engaged in anti-war activities and was preparing those who wanted to fight on the side of Ukraine. After the visit of the security forces, Frolov's friend left Russia.
At the end of October, Frolov was removed from the bus at the Upper Lars checkpoint while trying to leave for Georgia – before that, the border guards took away his smartphone and studied the contents. He was later arrested for 15 days, allegedly for using obscene language in a public place (“petty hooliganism”). On October 31, Frolov called his parents and said that he was in a pre-trial detention center in Vladikavkaz. On December 12, it became known that he was accused of high treason. He is charged with Part 1 of Art. 30, art. 275 of the Criminal Code – "transition to the side of the enemy." The court decision on the choice of a measure of restraint on detention was issued on December 12.
The Insider's interlocutor said that on November 26 he received a message from their mutual friend with Frolov that the security forces were interested in him. On November 29, FSB officers came to his office:
“Savelii and I are close friends, but despite this, after his arrest and administration, neither I nor my friends fully understood how things were going. Even after the second administration, we had no idea about the seriousness of the situation and the nature of the suspicions against him. On the 29th, when I was at work, the cops rang at my door. I thought that this was some kind of scheduled check, in connection with which I calmly opened the door. Behind her, I saw five ordinary PPS-nicknames and three FSB officers. They immediately confiscated my personal phone, checked my passport, which they also took away, handcuffed me and took me to the nearest department, not even giving me time to find a replacement employee in the store.
In the department, at first I talked for two hours with one FSB officer in a separate room, he read to me my correspondence with Savely and asked about it. They told me that they found me using phone billing, and they called the addresses where I often visit.
They said that they knew everything about me – allegedly I am preparing activists to be sent to Ukraine to fight for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and in general I am engaged in anti-war activities. The key requirement was to show the phone. Having discussed everything in the world and not having received a password from my phone, the employee left, after which his colleague arrived with a huge bag of incomprehensible equipment, and the two of them left for an hour with my phone in a separate room. I suspect that, despite the fact that the phone was not unlocked in my presence, while the two of them were leaving with some equipment and my phone, they could have wiretapped it and God knows what else
Then they again continued to ask me about Savely and about my knowledge of his plans, they say, he wanted to go to fight for Ukraine.
For another 3-4 hours, the two of them were already trying to get me to talk, they were also very actively trying to get access to my phone. The apotheosis of the situation was the moments when we were silent for 20 minutes and they just waited for me to break down and tell them everything, they said that they would not let me go until they received the necessary information. As a result, having summed up the situation by filling out a questionnaire and taking a verbal promise from me to cooperate with the investigation, not to leave the city and not to do any “nonsense”, they let me go.
At the moment I am not in Russia, due to the fact that the FSB threats were also directed at me. I can say that Savely definitely had no real plans to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and all the assumptions of the FSB are based on is one message from our dialogue that has no serious relation to reality. There were messages discussing the NWO, and they mainly hooked on his half-joking message with the intention of going there, which I also approved in the context of the joke.
On July 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law equating to treason going over to the side of the enemy in the context of hostilities. The accused under this article can face up to 20 years in prison.