Auckland woman Antonina Ovchinnikova has used her Telegram following to raise tens of thousands of dollars for Russian volunteer units currently illegally invading Ukraine. Photo: Stuff / Abigail Dougherty
The Auckland woman under police investigation for fundraising tens of thousands of dollars for the Russian army has left New Zealand for Russia.
On Tuesday, Stuff revealed Antonina Ovchinnikova had been using the encrypted messaging service Telegram to raise money for volunteer Russian army units which are fighting as part of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, police confirmed they were investigating Ovchinnikova, who stopped posting on Telegram for three days after posting thousands of times since February.
Ovchinnikova broke her silence on Saturday to reveal why she hadn't posted.
She had been flying back "home" to Russia, posting a video from Moscow's Domodedovo airport to update followers of her whereabouts.
In the three-minute video, wearing a white sweatshirt with "Harvard" printed across the front, Ovchinnikova addressed her 23,000 followers saying it was nice to have their support, while also explaining the reason for her absence.
"Well, what a fuss. I understand the news, of course, oh but I am not only brave but I am also smart," she said, translated from Russian.
"You know where I am now? At home in Moscow. I am very tired after 30 hours of flight with a bunch of things to do and a lot of plans that I had already made before it all."
Ovchinnikova claims she understood New Zealand law and knew exactly what she was doing, that she had "beaten the b......" and would explain everything in time.
"But let me recover a little to sleep because the 10-hour time difference between New Zealand and Moscow and the flight are very hard, but I am very happy to be [home] again."
Yuriy Gladun, chairman of the northern region of the Ukrainian Association of NZ, said he was "satisfied" with Ovchinnikova's departure.
"That [Russia] is a good place for her to be."
Gladun believes Ovchinnikova left because of public pressure and was surprised she did it so fast. "I am absolutely happy," he said.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said after seeing Stuff's reporting she wanted to see if Ovchinnikova had breached sanctions imposed by the New Zealand government.
Ovchinnikova has denied handling money going to Sberbank or other Russian banks sanctioned by New Zealand as part of the fundraising.
If Ovchinnikova's fundraising is a breach of the sanctions, Gladun said he wanted her to face justice in New Zealand.
However, he thought would be unlikely to happen now that she's left the country.
On Ovchinnikova's Telegram channel, which Stuff has decided not to name, Ovchinnikova regularly posts content on the war, Kremlin propaganda and attacks Ukrainians calling them Nazis and pigs.
Since May, Ovchinnikova has also asked her 23,000 followers to donate money for the purchase of specific gear for volunteer Russian army units that are in Ukraine.
Ovchinnikova, who has lived in New Zealand for 10 years, has raised 1.5 million Russian rubles (about NZ$43,000) which has bought gun sights, machine gun mufflers and even drones for the soldiers.
In an interview with Stuff, the woman justified raising money for the units because she believes the Russian military is invading Ukraine for "denazification" and that Russia owns Ukraine historically and therefore is entitled to occupy its land.
Her beliefs are standard Kremlin propaganda espoused by Vladimir Putin himself as a justification for the invasion and have no basis in fact.
* This story originally appeared on Stuff.