Four years ago, on 29 April 2022, Russian security forces abducted Iryna Danylovych \u2014 a nurse, citizen journalist, and human rights defender \u2014 in temporarily occupied Crimea. Today, Iryna is a political prisoner illegally sentenced by Russia on fabricated charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before her detention, she worked as a nurse in a rehabilitation centre in Koktebel, managed social media, and wrote about the situation of medical workers in occupied Crimea. She was one of the first correspondents for the “Crimean Process” initiative and supported Crimean Tatar activists in occupation “courts”. As a result, she faced repeated pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the day of her disappearance, she was returning home after a night shift. On her way, she was forced into a car and taken away. For over a week, her relatives did not know where she was or what had happened to her. During this time, Iryna was kept in a basement, beaten, threatened, barely fed, and denied access to a toilet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, her home was searched, and her equipment and personal belongings were confiscated. Later, the official reason for her detention emerged \u2014 “possession of explosives”. This became the basis for the criminal case. The “evidence” was an explosive substance that, according to security forces, was found in her bag. At the same time, the case files contain no clear circumstances: neither the place, time, nor the conditions under which she obtained it. Iryna herself insists that the explosives were planted after she was forced to sign a confession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her lawyer managed to find her only on 11 May in the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre. The “trial” was held behind closed doors. The prosecution was built on dubious evidence, and the “witnesses” used case materials directly during their interrogations. Ultimately, Iryna was sentenced to nearly seven years in a penal colony and a fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While in the pre-trial detention centre, she began to lose hearing in one ear, experiencing constant noise, pain, and dizziness. She reported beatings and psychological pressure. To demand medical assistance, she declared a hunger strike, but ended it after being promised treatment \u2014 “promises” that the occupiers failed to keep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, Iryna was transferred to a women’s penal colony in the Stavropol Krai of Russia. There, the situation did not improve. Unsanitary conditions, limited access to medication, and a complete disregard for doctors’ recommendations became part of everyday life. Medicines are dispensed only twice a week and for a limited time \u2014 there are not enough for everyone. This leads to conflicts among the prisoners, but Iryna does not participate in them, resulting in her being left without necessary medications for months. Moreover, the administration creates additional conditions that harm her health, in particular, prolonged loud noise despite her hearing problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of this is not an isolated violation but a systemic practice. Abductions, torture, fabrication of cases, and inhumane detention conditions are gross violations of international humanitarian law. The story of Iryna Danylovych is one of many examples of how Russia uses criminal prosecutions as a tool to pressure civilians under occupation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":87601,"template":"","publication-type":[],"class_list":["post-87608","press-center","type-press-center","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n