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Detained Activist from Soldiers' Mothers Committee Released by Police

Lyudmila Bogatenkova of the Budyonnovsk branch of the Soldiers' Mothers Committee in the North Caucasus has been released from police custody on condition that she does not leave town.

Seventy-three-year-old Bogatenkova, who chairs the Budyonnovsk branch of the NGO, which fights for the rights of soldiers, was taken into police custody Friday and charged with fraud.

No further details on the case against her have been provided. Andrei Sabinin, Bogatenkova's lawyer, was cited Monday by Gazeta.ru as confirming the news of her release.

"Yes, they changed the pretrial restraint measure to a written pledge not to leave town," Sabinin was cited as saying.

Bogatenkova's colleagues described her arrest as an attempt to intimidate the organization over its earlier claims that Russian soldiers were being sent to fight in eastern Ukraine.

In August, Bogatenkova alleged that the Russian government had secretly been sending troops to Ukraine to take part in the civil conflict there, a charge Russia's Defense Ministry has denied.

If tried and convicted of fraud, Bogatenkova faces up to 10 years behind bars.

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