Ukrainian woman sentenced to 15 years with Russia claiming that support for Ukraine is ‘state treason’

Russia has handed down the second of two horrific sentences in one day against Ukrainian civilians abducted from Zaporizhzhia oblast.  Oksana Ivanchenko, a 47-year-old from Yakymivka, a rural settlement in the Melitopol raion, was ‘sentenced’ to 15 years with the Russian invaders accusing a Ukrainian of ‘state treason’ for allegedly passing information about enemy positions to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Although the sentence was, purportedly, passed by Russia’s fake ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’, it was reported on 2 August by the Russian occupation ‘Crimean prosecutor’.  Any ‘court’ on occupied Ukrainian territory is illegitimate, as are any ‘trials’ by the occupying power of Ukrainian citizens under Russian law.  The charge against Oksana Ivanchenko is especially cynical as the Ukrainian is accused, under Article 275 of Russia’s criminal code, with ‘state treason’  it is claimed that, in May 2023, Ivanchenko “collected and passed, via Messenger, to a representative of a foreign state information about the location of personnel and military technology of the Russian Federation armed forces, as well as the address of the Russian commandant’s office.”   Such information was accurate and “could have been used by the Ukrainian side to carry out strikes on local places of Russian military deployment, that is, against the security of the country””

Since the Russian invaders do not even try to conceal that by “foreign state”, they are referring to Ukraine, this means that Oksana Ivanchenko, a Ukrainian, was simply accused of telling Ukrainian officials about the enemy’s positions on Ukrainian territory, with it being precisely those Russian fighters and military technology which placed the security of Ukrainian territory in jeopardy.  Russia may reject such an assessment of the situation, but it is fully in accordance with international law, unlike Russia’s charges against the Ukrainian citizen.

Aside from the timeframe, these charges are essentially identical to those which Russia has used against another abducted Ukrainian, Father Kostiantyn (Maksymov) whose ‘sentence’ was also announced on 2 August.  Russia is assiduously avoiding admitting to persecuting a Ukrainian Orthodox priest and to the real reasons for his persecution. Instead, it claimed that Father Kostiantyn had passed on the same information to Ukraine’s Security Service. 

The main difference is that Father Kostiantyn was charged with ‘spying’ under Article 276 of Russia’s criminal code, whereas Oksana Ivanchenko was accused of ‘state treason’ (Article 275).  If, as seems likely, the reason is because Ivanchenko now has Russian citizenship, the latter changes nothing at all.  The invading power has made it effectively impossible to receive medical treatment, to work; prevent ones property from being appropriated by the invaders, etc. without accepting a Russian passport.

Disturbingly little is known about Oksana Ivanchenko.  What is clear, however, is that these indictments tend to follow a very specific pattern, with the only ‘evidence’ ever presented being videoed ‘confessions’ almost certainly obtained through torture. while the person is held incommunicado.  While the attempt to classify passing information about enemy positions to one’s own country’s defenders is preposterous, the indictment may well also be pure fiction.  These is nothing to suggest that Oksana received access to an independent lawyer or, in any way at all, had a chance of a fair trial.  Under such circumstances, it is even unclear whether she will appeal against the verdict and 15-year sentence in a medium security prison colony.

See also: Russia sentences abducted Ukrainian Orthodox priest to 14 years for 'spying for Ukraine'