Director of the Luhansk School of Arts was kept in an isolation ward in Crimea for six months

Marina Kovalenko, 57, director of the Luhansk School of Art, was held in isolation in the temporarily occupied Crimea for more than six months. She was charged with "high treason".

This was reported by the human rights initiative "Tribunal. Crimean Episode".

The woman was kidnapped in Alushta on June 10, 2025, allegedly because of her alleged financial support for the Ukrainian military. At first, she was held in Simferopol's SIZO-2 in complete isolation, and two weeks ago she was transferred to SIZO-1.

According to human rights activists, after the start of the full-scale aggression, Russian security forces have significantly intensified the persecution of residents of the occupied territories, accusing them of treason, spying for Ukraine or financial support for the Ukrainian armed forces.

In most of these cases, enforced disappearances precede detention, and trials are held without any publicity, making it impossible to assess the legitimacy of the evidence presented.

According to the activists, international law qualifies abductions in the occupied territory as a war crime. The detention of Marina Kovalenko in complete isolation and in the conditions described by other detained Crimeans is considered inhuman treatment, which is also a war crime.

They emphasized that the persons involved in the abduction and deprivation of liberty of Marina Kovalenko will be identified and held accountable within the framework of the International Tribunal.

Also , Anatoliy Kobzar, who was abducted by the occupiers in March 2024, was in complete isolation for more than a year and a half. Only in October 2025 did it become known that he was in custody in Sevastopol. During this time, the man lost about 40 kg of weight and went through regular torture.

Kobzar is accused of high treason According to the occupiers, he allegedly photographed the locations of air defense facilities in Sevastopol and passed the data to Ukrainian intelligence. The case is called fabricated, and the testimony is called coerced.

Анна Бальчінос