If found guilty, he could be jailed for several years or sent to a forced labour camp.<\/p>\n
[\u00a0The most Ukrainian town in Ireland: \u2018We had to get used to each other\u2019s culture\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Ms Petrenko believes the charges are frivolous. <\/p>\n The Department of Foreign Affairs<\/a> is \u201caware of the case and is providing consular assistance\u201d, but cannot comment on individual cases, a spokesman said.<\/p>\n It is understood Mr Simbaev\u2019s dual citizenship has made intervention by Ireland more difficult. <\/p>\n Ms Petrenko believes Russian authorities think her husband\u2019s Russian citizenship supersedes his Irish one and, as such, may not co-operate with Irish officials.<\/p>\n She said her husband regularly visited Russia since moving to Ireland, usually returning annually to visit his parents. She does not know why police targeted him on his most recent trip.<\/p>\n Ms Petrenko moved to Ireland after the Russian invasion of Ukraine<\/a> in 2022. The couple met here and married in January 2023.<\/p>\n When Mr Simbaev went to Russia in August 2025, he was detained by police at Chelyabinsk Airport. Chelyabinsk is located in west-central Russia, close to the Ural Mountains. Mr Simbaev was travelling on his Russian passport at the time.<\/p>\n Ms Petrenko said police searched her husband\u2019s luggage and took his mobile phone. She said police told Mr Simbaev they were detaining him because of \u201canti-Russian\u201d content on his phone.<\/p>\n She believes this content relates to messages she sent him in 2024 in which she expressed anger at Russian authorities over the invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n Ms Petrenko said her mother died of a heart attack which she believes was caused by the stress of the war. <\/p>\n \u201cThey started bombing my city, Kharkiv… I lost my mother, my mother died. I wrote my opinion [in the messages] because of a difficult situation in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0More than 83,000 Ukrainians who fled war remain in Ireland, CSO findsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Ms Petrenko has signed an affidavit, seen by The Irish Times, in which she confirmed she wrote the messages in question.<\/p>\n \u201cI suffered the loss of my mother and other close family members and loved ones,\u201d the affidavit said.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring this period, I made certain communications via electronic messaging services … which … reflected my emotional distress at that time.<\/p>\n \u201cI acknowledge that the manner and tone of those communications was inappropriate, and I regret any offence, concern, or distress that may have been caused to any person as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there has been a notable increase in prosecutions in Russia for online comments deemed anti-Russian or anti-government, Amnesty International<\/a> has said, with many cases resulting in lengthy prison sentences.<\/p>\n Ms Petrenko said her husband has been denied calls to her and his parents. She last spoke to him on the phone in August. His parents have hired a lawyer in Russia and she receives sporadic updates from them.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has not been allowed to see his parents, not once in four months. Only the lawyer has contact with my husband, maybe once a week. I get very little information.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Daria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ZTMI75GDLVHIVMN6RGC27FJ2N4.JPG\")
Daria Petrenko, wife of Dimitry Simbaev, said her husband has been denied calls to her and his parents, and that she last spoke to him on the phone in August. Photograph: Joe O’Shaughnessy <\/p>\n![\"Daria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GA73XFC5R5EDNPSPWCEKMFBIPY.JPG\")
Daria Petrenko said her mother died of a heart attack which she believes was caused by the stress of the war. ‘They started bombing my city, Kharkiv… I lost my mother, my mother died.’ Photograph: Joe O’Shaughnessy <\/p>\n