Russia’s occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’ has sentenced Ukrainian weightlifter Mark Perzhynsky (b. 2000) from Bratske, in Melitopol raion, to 15 years’ maximum-security imprisonment for supposed partisan activities aimed at destroying Russian military technology. The 25-year-old sportsman was claimed to have been part of a ‘sabotage group’, together with his father, who is facing separate charges. While credit is due to any partisans resisting the invaders waging war against Ukraine, the charges may well be totally fabricated. The eye-watering amounts which Perzhynsky was ordered to pay as a ‘fine’ and in supposed ‘compensation make it clear that those involved in this trial were well aware that Mark Perzhynsky is the son of prominent farmer Volodymyr Perzhynsky, who would have riled the Russian invaders through his refusal to collaborate.
As is most often the case on occupied territory, news of Perzhynsky’s ‘trial coincided with the sentence reported on 29 January 2026, both by the occupation prosecutor and ‘court’, and by the Russian state-controlled TASS. Perzhynsky was described by the latter as “trained and coordinated by Ukraine”, with it claimed that both he and his father had taken part in “planning and carrying out acts of sabotage” in occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia oblast.
It was claimed that, having contacted an unnamed representative of Ukraine’s Security Service, Perzhynsky had arrived in government-controlled Ukraine in March 2023, where he, purportedly, underwent special training in sabotage activities. While carrying out instructions from his ‘fixer’, he had supposedly drawn his father into this activity, with the criminal case against his father made into a separate prosecution.
Mark Perzhynsky was accused of having, in September 2023, blown up two pieces of Russian military technology, with this allegedly causing damage of over 17,6 million roubles (over 194 thousand euros). He was also claimed to have taken part in “illegal arms, ammunition and explosives trafficking”, creating seven secret hiding places. A list of items, purportedly discovered, and video footage of them, are standard features of most FSB ‘operations’, including very many where there is considerable evidence that the charges were, from beginning to end, fabricated.
Perzhynsky was charged, in breach of international law, under Russia’s criminal code. He was accused of ‘involvement in a sabotage organization, under Article 281.3 § 2; of undergoing training in order to carry out acts of sabotage (Article 281.2); sabotage carried out by an organized group (Article 281 § 2a, b and c), and weapons and explosives charges under Articles 222, 222.1 and 222.2.
There was no attempt, as is often the case, to claim some mercenary motive, or coercion, with the occupation ‘court’ asserting that he was “a supporter of pro-Ukrainian policy” and had therefore decided to oppose Russia’s armed forces in carrying out what Russia calls its ‘special military operation’.
The young man was sentenced to 15 years’ maximum-security imprisonment with the first four years in a prison, the harshest of all Russian penal institutions, with a further two years of restricted liberty after this already massive term.
The illegal occupation ‘court’ also imposed a fine of one million roubles and claimed confiscation of money to cover the alleged 17.6 million rouble ‘damages’.
There is no information about when Mark Perzhynsky and, seemingly his father, Volodymyr Perzhynsky, were seized, however it is noticeable that the only dates mentioned in the indictment are up to September 2023, well over two years ago.
Scepticism is warranted about literally all such prosecutions, with Russia’s FSB notorious for torturing out ‘confessions’ and brazenly fabricating supposed evidence. Here the suspicion is exacerbated still further by the specific and huge amount of the fine and alleged ‘damages’, which would presumably be extracted by robbing the family coffers or simply appropriating their land. There is no way of verifying any of the allegations, but nor is there is any reason to believe that Mark Perzhynsky had anything even vaguely resembling a fair trial before receiving a predetermined sentence. The same is, unfortunately, true of his father whose whereabouts do not seem to be known.
The Ukrainian publication RIA-South reports that Mark Perzhynsky was professionally involved in sport weightlifting before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and seized Melitopol and the surrendering area. It assumes, however, that it was Mark’s father, Volodymyr Perzhynsky, a well-known farmer, who was the original target. All farmers came under huge pressure from the invaders, were forced to hand over their grain for a pittance, were threatened at gunpoint and often faced trumped-up charges. “Many residents and farmers of the Melitopol raion who refused to collaborate with the occupiers reported abductions, pressure and fabrication of criminal cases.” As on all occupied territory, charges of sabotage have become “a universal weapon for reprisals against disloyal or simply inconvenient people.”
