Sofya Rosenfeld is a Candidate of Biological Sciences and a senior research fellow at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She is one of the leading specialists in Arctic waterfowl. She actively opposed a bill that would weaken the ban on the killing of Red Data Book species.
In October 2026, a court found Sofya Rosenfeld guilty of financing the activities of an extremist organisation and sentenced her to 3 years and 6 months' imprisonment in a penal colony.
Rosenfeld was charged over two donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), made in August and September 2021, after the organisation had been designated as 'extremist'. She said that at the time she was on a long-term scientific expedition without access to communications. When the scientist learned that the ban on the Anti-Corruption Foundation had come into force, she cancelled her subscription.
