The Russian occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’ has sentenced Larysa Malovychko, a 57-year-old midwife from Enerhodar, to 11 years for ‘pro-Ukrainian views’ and supposed spying. According to Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov, Larysa Malovychko was abducted back in September 2023 and held prisoner for some time both in Russia and in occupied Crimea.
Russia has imposed a near total information blockade on most occupied territory, with next to nothing more known about Malovychko, or her so-called ‘trial’. The verdict was reported on the so-called ‘court’ Telegram channel on 20 November 2025, with nothing to indicate how many (if any) hearings there were, before the predetermined guilty verdict and 11-year sentence.
The report on 20 November identified Malovychko only as ‘M’ and said she was born in 1968. She is described as a resident of Enerhodar and has “having Ukrainian citizenship”. What this rather absurd wording means is that Larysa Malovychko had not taken Russian citizenship, with this the reason why she was charged with ‘spying’, under Article 276 of Russia’s criminal code, not with ‘treason’, under Article 275. Since the purported ‘spying’ was from May to June 2022, it is possible that she was abducted because of her pro-Ukrainian stand, with the Russians then finding correspondence, posts, etc. from that earlier period which were used as pretext for ‘spying’ charges.
The report is truly surreal, with the 57-year-old Ukrainian living in her own country accused of working for a foreign military intelligence in passing on information about an invading country’s military forces and technology. “Being a supporter of pro-Ukrainian views, did not support SMO [ the so-called ‘special military operation’, Russia’s euphemism for its war of aggression against Ukraine] and decided to act against the Russian armed forces. In May 2022 she began corresponding electronically with a person acting in the interests of a foreign military intelligence, and was instructed to gather and pass on information about the places of deployment of units of Russia’s anti-aircraft defence in Enerhodar. From May through June 2022, ‘M’ passed on information about Russian anti-aircraft technology which she identified by the ‘Z’ on the cockpit.”
‘Spying’ or ‘treason’ charges have become extremely common since Russia first launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Such ‘trials’ are held behind closed doors, with convictions and long sentences guaranteed. Both men and women are targeted, and there are also no bars as far as age is concerned. Very young people have been seized and, later, sentenced to long terms of imprisonment for donations to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, for example, when they were underage, while equally horrific sentences have been passed against Ukrainians in their 70s. This is all of particular concern given the very real danger of being subjected to torture in Russian captivity.
In June 2025, 74-year-old Oleksandr Markov from Enerhodar died in Russian captivity. He had been abducted on 8 May 2024, with his family knowing nothing about his whereabouts until March 2025. It was only then that they learned that a fake occupation ‘court’ had sentenced the 74-year-old to 14 years in a maximum-security [‘harsh-regime’] prison colony on ‘treason’ charges.
Dmytro Orlov reported then that at least 26 other residents of Enerhodar were illegally held in Russian captivity, including seven women. 13 of them are employees of the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, with Russia having begun abducting and torturing employees soon after it seized control of the plant in early March 2022. It is quite possible that the real figure is much higher.
See also:
Lilia Kachariova and S.N. Dovhopola
Huge sentences and videoed ‘repentance’ in Russia’s mounting terror in occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast
Nalalia Shulha
Tetiana Klochko
Russia sentences Ukrainian to 12 years on fake Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant ‘terrorism’ charges
Ruslan Lavryk
Vadym Trachuk
Oleh Morochkovsky
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant guard savagely tortured to blame Ukraine for Russia’s war crimes
Serhiy Potynh
Oleh Morochkovsky and Dmytro Yevsieliev Abducted Ukrainians tortured into claiming Ukraine carried out Russia’s attack on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Serhiy Spartesny
Serhiy Korzh
Serhiy Korzh was abducted together with his twin brother Oleksandr Korzh, who worked for the State Centre on Nuclear and Radiation Safety. Serhiy last saw his brother in SIZO No. 2, an FSB-controlled remand prison in occupied Simferopol, back in December 2022. According to the Centre for Journalist Investigations, nothing has been heard of him since.
Oleksiy Brazhnyk
Another ZNPP engineer, Brazhnyk was last seen in February 2023, when the Russians produced a propaganda video, claiming to have ‘deported’ him (details here Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant engineer held and tortured by Russian invaders for over a year)
Andriy Honcharuk
Honcharuk, a diver for ZNPP, was reportedly tortured to death in early July 2022 after he refused to take part in their attempt to get the water emptied from the cooling system.
Andriy Nudha was seized by the Russians on 15 April 2023, and sentenced to 12 years later on ‘terrorism’ charges, seemingly linked with Russia’s persecution of Vadym Trachuk.
Oleksandr Matiukhin, another ZNPP employee, was abducted on 14 March 2023 and sentenced, in September 2024 to 13 years on supposed ‘spying’ charges.
