Detention: On June 18, 2022, Kostyantyn Tereshchenko was detained by Russian occupying forces in the village of Novooleksiivka, Henichesk district, Kherson region. According to human rights defenders, a car and a minibus marked with 'Z' and a group of armed individuals arrived at his home. After a search, he was taken from the yard, brought to a basement used for illegal detention and torture, and later transferred to a pre-trial detention centre in occupied Crimea.

Sentence: On December 9, 2022, the occupying Dzhankoy District Court of Crimea found Kostyantyn Tereshchenko guilty under part 2 of article 208 of the Russian Criminal Code for 'participation in an armed formation on the territory of a foreign state not provided for by the legislation of that state.' He was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in a strict regime colony. The Russian side claimed that Tereshchenko allegedly voluntarily joined the Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan in 2016 and performed duties of checking people and vehicles at checkpoints between Kherson region and occupied Crimea.

On December 9, 2022, the occupying Dzhankoy District Court issued a guilty verdict against Tereshchenko. He was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in a strict regime colony.

Kostyantyn Ivanovych Tereshchenko was born on March 16, 1976. He is a citizen of Ukraine, born in the village of Novooleksiivka, Kherson region.

Before his detention, he worked in agriculture and lived in the Kherson region.

Kostyantyn Tereshchenko is the father of four children, one of whom has a disability from childhood.

After the beginning of the Russian occupation of Crimea and the Kherson region, Tereshchenko remained in Ukraine. Russian security forces later accused him of participating in the Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan.

According to the Russian investigation, in 2016, Tereshchenko allegedly stayed in Ukraine and voluntarily joined what Russia classifies as an illegal armed formation. He was accused of participating in the inspection of individuals and vehicles at checkpoints near the administrative border with occupied Crimea.

On June 18, 2022, armed individuals arrived at Tereshchenko's house in Novooleksiivka. After a search, he was detained. The Crimean Tatar Resource Center reported that after his detention, he was initially held in a basement and then transferred to a pre-trial detention centre in occupied Crimea.

Ukrainian human rights defenders consider Tereshchenko's criminal prosecution to be illegal and politically motivated. The Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea included him in the list of Ukrainian citizens persecuted by the Russian occupying authorities for alleged participation in the battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan. The office emphasizes that Russia unlawfully extends its criminal legislation to temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

A feature of the cases against battalion participants is the application of Russian article 208 of the Criminal Code, particularly regarding actions that occurred on Ukrainian territory. The Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea noted that such practice is one of the tools of politically motivated criminal prosecution of Ukrainian citizens.

On December 9, 2022, the occupying Dzhankoy District Court issued a guilty verdict against Tereshchenko. He was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in a strict regime colony. CrimeaSOS also documented this sentence in its monitoring report, noting that the case was linked to accusations of participation in the battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan.

As of September 13, 2026, Kostyantyn Tereshchenko remains unlawfully convicted by Russia as a Ukrainian citizen.

Information used from open sources: ZMINA, Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, CrimeaSOS.

Photo: ZMINA.

Update date: 13.09.2026.