A mother of seven has been accused of treason for calling the Ukrainian embassy about Russian troop movements.
Svetlana Davydova, 36, was arrested last week by a group of men in black uniforms who burst into her apartment in the town of Vyazma, west of Moscow, her husband Anatoly Gorlov says.
She was still breastfeeding their youngest child, a two and a half month old girl, when she was taken away, he says.
The woman - who faces between 12 and 20 years in prison - is being held at the high-security Lefortovo jail in Moscow, her lawyer Andrei Stebenev said.
"She called where she was not supposed to call and said what she was not supposed to say," said Stebenev, who has been appointed by the state.
He said he could not comment further because the Russian General Staff said details of the case constituted a "state secret".
He added that the woman managed to keep her composure in detention.
"She is keeping her chin up."
A spokeswoman for Moscow's Lefortovo district court confirmed the existence of the "secret case".
Davydova's husband said his wife, who had taken an anti-war stance over the Ukraine conflict, phoned the Ukrainian embassy last April and apparently told them the local military base in Vyazma was empty, suggesting soldiers there had been deployed across the border.
She also apparently informed embassy staff she had overheard a serviceman saying troops of the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU, would be sent on a mission.
The troops would wear plainclothes and remain away at least until elections.
The fighting between Moscow-backed separatists and government troops broke out in eastern Ukraine in April.
The Kremlin has denied Russian troops have been fighting alongside insurgents.
Davydova said he was told to co-operate with the investigation or risk losing custody of his children.
"We were in shock," said Davydova's sister, Natalya Gorlova, "This is a monstrous mistake."
Vladislav Yusupov, a lawyer and rights activist, said the case was an embarrassment for authorities who have enforced a virtual blackout on any information related to Russia's intervention in Ukraine.
Share
