Detention: On March 13, 2015, FSB officers conducted a search at the apartment of Crimean journalist Anna Andriievska's parents in Crimea. At that time, the journalist was already on the mainland of Ukraine, having been forced to leave after the occupation of Crimea in 2014. Simultaneously, the FSB initiated a criminal case against her under Article 280.1 of the Russian Criminal Code ('public calls for the violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation'). The formal reason was her article about the Ukrainian volunteer battalion 'Crimea,' published in the 'Center for Investigative Journalism.' Anna Andriievska herself was not detained, but she was declared a suspect by the Russian occupation authorities. Human rights activists considered the persecution a gross violation of freedom of speech and politically motivated pressure on independent journalism.

Sentence: As of July 29, 2026, there is no information about a conviction against Anna Andriievska. Meanwhile, the criminal case initiated by the Russian FSB remains one of the first examples of criminal prosecution of Ukrainian journalists for not recognizing the occupation of Crimea. In 2024, a Ukrainian court sentenced two FSB officers in absentia for organizing the illegal persecution of the journalist.

Anna Andriievska is a Ukrainian journalist. She was born and lived in Crimea for a long time. She has been working in journalism since the early 2000s. She was an author for the 'Center for Investigative Journalism,' and after being forced to leave occupied Crimea, she continued her work in Kyiv. Since 2014, she has collaborated with the 'Crimea.Realii' project (Radio Liberty). She is the author of numerous investigative reports on human rights violations, political repression, corruption, and the consequences of the Russian occupation of Crimea, as well as two documentary books on the annexation of the peninsula.

After the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Anna Andriievska left the peninsula due to pressure from Russian special services and pro-Russian groups. Despite being forced to leave, she continued to document human rights violations in occupied Crimea and regularly published materials about the activities of Russian security forces, political persecution, and the lives of Crimeans under occupation.

In March 2015, the FSB conducted a search at her registered residence in Crimea, seized her family's property, and opened a criminal case. The basis was a journalistic article about the volunteer battalion 'Crimea,' which the Russian authorities considered 'calls for the violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.' International human rights organizations and Ukrainian media emphasized that the journalist was persecuted solely for her professional activities and non-recognition of the Russian annexation of Crimea.

In July 2024, a Ukrainian court found two Russian FSB officers guilty of organizing the illegal criminal prosecution of Anna Andriievska and other journalists from the 'Center for Investigative Journalism.' The court established that their actions were aimed at suppressing freedom of speech in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea.

As of July 29, 2026, Anna Andriievska continues her journalistic activities, covering the topic of occupied Crimea. She remains one of the most well-known Crimean journalists who were forced to leave the peninsula due to persecution by Russian special services. There is no information in open sources about the closure of the criminal case opened by the FSB.

Information used from open sources: Radio Liberty, Crimea.Realii, Center for Investigative Journalism, ZMINA, Detector Media.

Photo: ZMINA.

Date updated: 29.07.2026.