Halya Coynash, 14 April 2026

Russian occupation ‘court’ passes massive sentences in bulk for donations to Ukraine’s defenders

Any article of Russia’s criminal code will do since the real ‘crime’ against all the Ukrainians sentenced to 12, 13 or even 17 years, is that of patriotism and support for their own Ukrainian Armed Forces

Yelena Maksymenko (left) and Victoria Tkachenko during the sentencing Videos posted by the occupation ’court’ i

Russia’s occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’ has, in just one day, sentenced two Ukrainian women from occupied Tokmak to 12 and 13 years for donations to the men and women defending their country. Three days earlier that same illegal body sentenced another resident of occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast to only four years for knocking down and killing a young girl at a pedestrian crossing.

As is virtually always the case, we know essentially only what Russian occupation sources state about these two ‘trials’ before the occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’. Both Yelena Maksymenko and Victoria Tkachenko were charged with ‘state treason’, under Article 275 of Russia’s criminal code with the ‘justification’ for this being the Russian citizenship which the aggressor state has foisted on residents of all occupied Ukrainian territory.

Other hearings, if there were any, would have been behind closed doors, with only the reading of the sentences and the two women’s faces videoed and posted on Telegram. Only the initial of their surname is given by the press service, however their names are not concealed on the ‘court’ site.

The lack of information and especially the question mark over how donations to Ukraine’s Armed Forces via a telephone app come to be known are probably intentional. One of the main purposes of all of these ‘treason trials’ and horrific sentences for even the smallest of donations is surely to instil terror among the population and deter them from any demonstration of pro-Ukrainian views.

The first sentence reported on 10 April 2026 was that against Yelena Maksymenko (b. 1977) from Tokmak, who was referred to as “a Russian citizen”, unemployed and with Grade III disability status. She was also described as an opponent of what Russia insists on calling its ‘special military operation’ (i.e. its full-scale invasion of Ukraine).

Yelena Maksymenko had, it was stated, made regular donations from December 2023 through June 2025 from her mobile telephone app to the bank account of Ukraine’s military. This was, purportedly, “to obtain equipment and gear in order to carry out military action against the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”

No mention is made of the fact that such military action is on Ukrainian soil where Russia’s armed forces have no rights to be at all.

The ‘court’ report mentions the total amount donated to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, namely 24,220 roubles (268 euros). It also asserts that Maksymenko called on others to provide material aid to Ukrainian soldiers on a pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel and that she supposedly posted calls to eliminate Russian military personnel.

She was sentenced to 13 years’ medium-security imprisonment, followed by a year of restricted liberty.

According to this same pseudo court, a second sentence was passed on 10 April against Victoria Tkachenko (b. 1972), also from occupied Tokmak. The report states that, despite having received Russian citizenship in November 2023, Tkachenko spoke out against the so-called ‘special military operation’; against representatives of what are claimed to be state bodies, and Russia’s foreign policy.

Although the report claims that Tkachenko got the idea to provide support to Ukraine’s Armed Forces from pro-Ukrainian Telegram channels, the ‘treason’ charges were, seemingly, over a single money transfer in May 2024 to the account of a Ukrainian defender, with the amount a mere 2,299 roubles (around 25 euros). RIA-South earlier cited local residents in pointing out that many of these alleged ‘donations’ are, in fact, small amounts sent by Ukrainians to their children or other relatives who have left occupied territory. Instead of recognizing this, the invaders treat any money transfer to a Ukrainian account as ‘treason’ or claim it was to ‘finance terrorism’.

Victoria Tkachenko was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment, with a further one year of restricted liberty.

There has been a massive increase in such ‘trials’, with convictions and long sentences guaranteed. The sole difference is that occasionally other charges are used, especially where ‘treason’ cannot be used as the person has managed to not take Russian citizenship.

Another favourite with the occupation FSB is to accuse a person of ‘justifying terrorism’ [sic]. This has been used against Ukrainians who sent money transfers, for example, to the Azov Regiment. This is a unit within Ukraine’s Armed Forces, however Russia’s supreme court issued a politically motivated ruling on 2 August 2022, claiming it to be “a terrorist organization”. That ruling is now being applied to sentence prisoners of war from the Azov regiments to 39 years or life imprisonment, and civilians supporting them to shorter, but also very long sentences.

Mykola Tynkov in ’court’

Where even that won’t work, the same sentences are imposed, but more openly for supporting Ukraine. On 6 March 2026, Mykola Tynkov (b. 16.08.1955) from the village of Azovske in Berdiansk raion was sentenced to ten years for using a mobile app to transfer 3,015 UAH [around 60 euros) as a donation to help Ukraine’s defenders. Tynkov had not taken Russian citizenship, so could not be charged with treason. Instead, the invading power accused a Ukrainian citizen living on Ukrainian territory of “providing help to the enemy in actions knowingly aimed against the security of the Russian Federation”, under Article 276.1 of Russia’s criminal code.

Other victims (the list is, unfortunately, unlikely to be comprehensive)

Halyna Bekhter

Russia sentences 69-year-old Ukrainian pensioner to 11 years for sending money to Ukraine

Maryna Bilousova

Russia sentences 61-year-old Ukrainian to 12. 5 years for donation to Ukraine’s defenders

Roman Hryhorian

Ukrainian seized in Crimea and sentenced to 12 years for donations to Ukraine' s defenders

Olha Hulchak; Olena Penza and Yulia Stanika

Russia sentences three Ukrainian women to 12 years for supporting Ukraine’s defenders

Lilia Kachkariova and Svitlana Dovhopola

Huge sentences and videoed ‘repentance’ in Russia’s mounting terror in occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast

Oleksandr Kachkurkin