Russian student detained trying to enter Syria

Police say disappearance of 19-year-old Muslim convert prompted concerns she wanted to join the Islamic State

By AP 5 June 2015, 6:31 pm

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Authorities suspect nineteen-year-old Russian student Varvara Karaulova who was detained on Turkey-Syria border on June 5, 2015, was on her way to join the Islamic State group. (YouTube screen capture)

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian university student whose disappearance prompted concerns that she aimed to go to Syria and join ISIS has been detained in a Turkish border town, Russian police said Friday.

An Interior Ministry statement said 19-year-old Varvara Karaulova was detained in Kilis while trying to cross the border and was being held by Turkish immigration authorities. It did not say when she was detained or whether she was trying to cross into Syria or into Turkey.

The ministry said she is to be deported to Russia and that officials are investigating whether she should be charged in Russia with participating in an armed group, which could carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Russian media reports said Karaulova, a student at prestigious Moscow State University, went missing in late May. It was determined that she had flown to Turkey and her cellphone was traced to the border area.

The reports said Karaulova had adopted Islam and sometimes wore a hijab. Her father was quoted as saying he feared she had become radicalized.