MOSCOW, October 5 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) - The Moscow District Military Court has upheld extending detention of Varvara Karaulova (Alexandra Ivanova), the Moscow State University’s student, who stands charged with attempting to join the Islamic State militants in Syria, RAPSI learned in the court on Wednesday.

She will remain in jail until December 13.

Earlier, Karaulova (Ivanova) requested to close her case but investigator denied the motion.

On Wednesday, the court began hearing of the case on the merits.

As previously reported the second-year student of the Moscow State University’s Faculty of Philosophy, allegedly decided to join the Islamic State, the organization banned in Russia, and secretly started off for Istanbul on May 27.

On June 4, she was arrested near Turkey's border with Syria along with 13 other Russian citizens when attempting to cross into the territory occupied by Islamic State militants. On June 11, she returned to Russia under escort of Interpol employees.

In October, Karaulova, who had changed her name to Alexandra Ivanova, was again arrested in Moscow and put in jail.

She has been found sane by the psychiatric evaluation.

The student did not plead guilty and stated that she was not going to become a terrorist.

The Islamic State, an organization which is prohibited in Russia, is currently one of the major threats to global security. Over three years, these terrorists have managed to seize large areas of Iraq and Syria. The organization is also attempting to spread its influence to North Africa – particularly, Libya. The area controlled by ISIS covers up to 90,000 square kilometers.