Crimean Artist Bohdan Ziza Sentenced to 15 Years for Anti-War Protest

An artist from Crimea was sentenced to 15 years in prison for an anti-war action when he doused the facade of the Russian administration with blue and yellow paint. Despite the pressure and ill-treatment, he continues to fight, supporting moral resistance through drawings and letters from prison.

This was reported by Krym.Realii.

In May 2022, Bohdan Ziza, an artist from Yevpatoria, committed an anti-war act: he poured yellow and blue paint on the facade of the Russian administration building and tried to set it on fire. This was his protest against Russia's war in Ukraine. His actions quickly attracted the attention of Russian security forces, and he was detained the next day. Bohdan was charged with terrorism, and in June 2023, a court sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

Ziza was recognized as a political prisoner, and human rights activists are convinced that his serious punishment is a consequence of his civic position. In court, Bohdan stated that he did not regret his actions, although he acknowledged that his actions could have led to the violation of terrorist articles.

PHOTO: Krym.Realii

After Bohdan's detention, his relatives did not know where he was for several days. Oleksandra Barkova, his cousin, learned about the arrest through a video released by a Russian TV channel, where the artist, nervous, apologized. According to the political prisoner's sister, the video was recorded under pressure. For almost a year, the artist was held in the Simferopol Detention Center, and now he is being held in the Vladimir Central Detention Center.

Bohdan is a creative person, he was fond of photography, graffiti, parkour and wrote poetry. Oleksandra says that the artist has always been a very empathetic person who supported his family during difficult times. After the war broke out, he became her main support, especially when her relatives were in occupied Zaporizhzhia.

Now, while in prison, Bohdan continues to draw and write. He sends his drawings through letters. Oleksandra received one of them, a drawing depicting Bakhchisarai, and it became an important sign for her: her brother is alive and does not lose hope.

PHOTO: Krym.Realii

Despite all the difficulties, Oleksandra continues to fight for the release of her brother, hoping for his exchange.

Also, Irina Danilovich, a Crimean human rights activist and journalist, is being held in harsh conditions in a colony in the Stavropol Territory, where she suffers from cruel conditions of detention. Prisoners are not provided with the necessary medical care, are deprived of food and forced to stand in the rain and cold.

In 2024, at least 56 trumped-up criminal cases were opened against activists, journalists, religious leaders, and anyone who disagrees with the occupation authorities. During the occupation of Crimea, 61 activists have been killed, including 29 Crimean Tatars.

In order to suppress dissent, activists and civilians are persecuted through arrests, abductions and false accusations. In Russian prisons, people are subjected to ill-treatment, tortured with electric shocks, have their heads packed in bags, and are beaten to extract confessions to crimes they did not commit.

In total, from 2017 to 2024, more than 10,000 human rights violations were recorded in the occupied Crimea, of which more than 6,700 concerned Crimean Tatars.

Анна Бальчінос