In Rostov-on-Don, 63-year-old artist Viktor Kirman and 46-year-old astrologer Igor Kolomiets were charged with treason after spending several months in what are described as revolving administrative arrests. The case details remain classified, but according to Mediazona, the accusation is tied to money transfers to Ukraine.
Kirman, who was born in the Kirovohrad region, had run an art studio for many years and taught children. His daughter Nelli, also an artist, lives in Ukraine. She says that after the start of the full-scale war, her father stopped publicly emphasizing his background, turned down some exhibitions, but continued working until his detention on February 25, 2026. That day, security officers took him from a renovation job at another apartment and then searched his home.
The next day, officers searched Kolomiets’s apartment. His partner Oksana said they seized devices without leaving a proper record. The Proletarsky District Court first gave the astrologer 14 days for petty hooliganism, while the Oktyabrsky District Court ordered 10 days for Kirman on charges of disobeying police. Mediazona writes that both men were then repeatedly given new terms in Rostov, Aksay, Novocherkassk, and the Chertkovsky district.
Nelli Kirman says that during rare phone calls, her father spoke of beatings, torture, and demands that he sign papers admitting to transfers of money to Ukraine.
According to the FSB, Kolomiets gave his Ukrainian clients Nelli Kirman’s bank details, they sent her payment for his consultations, and those funds were then allegedly used to finance the Ukrainian armed forces. In the case materials, Kirman’s role is described vaguely: investigators claim the transfers were made by agreement with him or under his control, and that he allegedly returned part of the money to Kolomiets in cash rubles.
Nelli says she regularly receives payments for her paintings from different people but does not remember any transfers from Kolomiets or his clients. The FSB also cites her husband’s ties to the group “Justice Is Our Choice,” which supports the Ukrainian military, as well as publications about the family’s exhibitions and volunteer activity. Kirman’s new lawyer has called the case poorly constructed, while Oksana disputes the investigators’ version and says Kolomiets simply had no money to finance anyone.