A missing Moscow student from Moscow State University has been detained by Turkish officials in the city of Kilis at the border with Syria, according to a report from news agency RIA Novosti which cites the Russian embassy in Ankara.
Varvara Karaulova, a second-year student of philosophy, had gone missing on May 27.
RIA Novosti reports that Karaulova will be handed over to Turkish migration officials and deported back to Russia. Karaulova’s father, Pavel Karaulov, confirmed that his daughter has been detained at the Turkey-Syria border and that she is unharmed.
“Varvara Karaulova was detained yesterday in the city of Kilis. She was attempting to illegally cross the border into Syria,” said a source from the Russian embassy in Ankara.
The second year college student left for class on May 27 and never came back home. Her parents told reporters that they found out she had boarded a plane from Moscow to Turkey, and by tracking her phone, her whereabouts were later established near the border with Syria. On June 4, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the Turkish police confirmed her entry into Turkey.
Pavel Karaulov and his lawyer Alexander Karabanov believe that the student was recruited by professionally trained ISIL recruiters. Karaulov’s lawyer maintains that this is a case of “smooth and efficient work” on the part of recruiters, and that Karaulova is not the only one to fall victim to their activities.
For more on Varvara Karaulova's story, read Missing Moscow girl recruited by ISIL, says her father