The so-called Zaporizhzhia Regional Court in the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast has handed down a fabricated verdict against Melitopol journalist Iryna Levchenko, sentencing her to 15 years in a penal colony. According to the occupation court’s Telegram channel, the journalist was found “guilty” of “espionage.”
Iryna Levchenko and her husband, Oleksandr, were abducted by Russian forces on a street in occupied Melitopol in May 2023. The journalist’s husband was released in August 2024 after more than a year of unlawful detention, while Iryna herself was held in isolation for more than three years and repeatedly transferred between pre-trial detention centres in Melitopol, Donetsk, Simferopol, and Krasnodar.
Because the journalist refused to obtain a Russian passport and remained a Ukrainian citizen, the occupation authorities charged her under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code with “espionage.” The proceedings were held entirely behind closed doors, while her family was denied information about her health and the conditions of her detention.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, told Women in Media that this judicial farce is part of a deliberate policy of intimidation and information isolation that Russia has systematically pursued in the territories it occupies:
“Russia is doing everything it can to prevent Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories from having access to truthful information. One of the aggressor state’s key tactics is exerting pressure on independent media. Those who refuse to cooperate with the occupation authorities are persecuted and have fabricated cases brought against them. Iryna Levchenko’s fate is a striking example of such crimes. She was unlawfully detained three years ago, with Russia providing Ukraine with no information about her whereabouts. Later, when it emerged that she was being held by Russia, it became known that she was being denied access to the medication she needed.”
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn drew parallels between Iryna Levchenko’s case and that of Victoria Roshchyna, another Ukrainian journalist who was captured by Russian forces and later tortured to death in captivity.
“We have already witnessed the tragic death of Victoria Roshchyna in a Russian prison. That is why we must draw the world’s attention to Iryna’s case as quickly as possible and secure her release. The world must not allow another tragedy to happen,” Yaroslav Yurchyshyn stressed.
Iryna Levchenko devoted more than 40 years of her life to journalism, writing stories and reports about her hometown of Melitopol for numerous Ukrainian media outlets. By the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she had already retired but continued documenting life in the occupied city.
Human rights defenders and media organisations are calling on the international community to step up pressure on Russia and demand the immediate release of Iryna Levchenko, as well as all Ukrainian civilian journalists unlawfully held in prisons by the aggressor state.