All news

Moscow student 'who wanted to join IS' to stay in custody

The court denied the girl's request to be placed under house arrest and said she had admitted her guilt

MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. Student Varvara Karaulova, charged with attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist group, will remain in detention until at least December 23, a Moscow city court ruled on Tuesday.

The court denied the girl's request to be placed under house arrest and said she had admitted her guilt.

The Moscow State University student went missing on May 27. On June 4, she was detained on the Turkish-Syrian border, reportedly planning to join the Islamic State.

Investigators said they feared Karaulova, who had changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova, would try to contact her recruiters if she was released from custody. Karaulova’s father said her daughter’s guilt was nothing but love for the person suspected of drawing her into the group's ranks.

"She was so busy at school and in sports that she had no time for contacts with boys," Pavel Karaulov said at the court’s hearing, praising the girl as an excellent student and saying she had changed her name to avoid media attention.