On December 26, 2024, the so-called Sevastopol City Court issued an unlawful verdict against Ukrainian activist Oksana Senedzhuk, sentencing her to 15 years of imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony. Additionally, she was sentenced to a one-year restriction of freedom and a fine of 200,000 rubles. The activist was accused of “high treason” under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Oksana Senedzhuk, a 58-year-old philologist by education, worked in the Sevastopol City State Administration until 2014. She received commendations for her professional achievements and actively participated in the Euromaidan events. According to her relatives, the persecution began in 2022 due to her outspoken pro-Ukrainian stance and public statements against the war.
On August 14, 2024, FSB officers illegally searched Oksana Senedzhuk’s home in Sevastopol. She was subsequently detained and transferred to a temporary detention facility and later to Detention Center No. 1 in Simferopol. The next day, on August 15, the so-called “Leninsky District Court” of Sevastopol ruled to place her under arrest.
The occupation prosecution claims that Senedzhuk allegedly “transferred information about the deployment of Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels to Ukrainian intelligence.” According to the “investigation,” she received instructions from an agent of the Ukrainian intelligence services, with whom she allegedly maintained contact since 2006.
The charges against Oksana Senedzhuk are politically motivated. This case is yet another example of the persecution of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territory for their pro-Ukrainian views and activities. The sentence handed down to Oksana Senedzhuk underscores the increasing repression by the occupation administration, which seeks to suppress any manifestations of resistance and support for Ukraine on the peninsula.
This incident further highlights the systemic human rights violations occurring in occupied Crimea. Ukraine calls on the international community to intensify pressure on the aggressor state to end these repressive practices and secure the release of all illegally detained individuals.