Detention: After Russia's occupation of Crimea in 2014, Balukh refused Russian citizenship and prominently displayed the Ukrainian flag over his house, with a plaque reading 'Street of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred 18' on the facade. Due to his pro-Ukrainian stance, he was constantly pressured by the occupation administration. In 2013, he participated in the Euromaidan in Kyiv.

On December 8, 2016, FSB officers searched the home of Natalia Balukh, Volodymyr's wife, in the village of Serebryanka, Perekopsky district of Crimea, claiming to have found 89 cartridges and several TNT blocks in the attic. Balukh and his defenders insisted the ammunition was planted. He was detained the same day. Searches of Balukh's property had occurred previously. In June 2016, he was sentenced to 320 hours of community service for 'insulting a government official,' which was later changed to 40 days in a settlement colony.

Sentence: On January 16, 2018, the Russia-controlled Rozdolne District Court of Crimea sentenced Balukh to 3 years and 7 months in a general regime colony and a fine of 10,000 rubles. In July 2018, another sentence was issued for allegedly 'disorganizing the activities of a temporary detention facility,' increasing the total punishment to 5 years in a colony. In October 2018, the Supreme Court of Crimea reduced the term by one month. On September 7, 2019, Balukh was released as part of a large exchange between Ukraine and Russia on a 35-for-35 basis. In his final statement during the trial, he declared: 'I do not want my descendants, the children of all Ukraine, to reproach me for being afraid or showing weakness.'

Volodymyr Hryhorovych Balukh was born on February 8, 1971, in the village of Serebryanka, Perekopsky (formerly Rozdolne) district of Crimea, where he lived all his life. He graduated from the Agro-University of Simferopol, worked as a water conservation engineer in a local collective farm, and managed his own farm on two plots of land, growing wheat. He was the elder of the local church. In 2006 and 2010, he ran for the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists.

During his imprisonment, Balukh went on a hunger strike for over 200 days, demanding recognition of his status as a Ukrainian citizen and access to a consul. He served his sentence in Correctional Colony No. 4 in the city of Torzhok, Tver region, Russia. He faced systematic pressure, including prolonged stays in solitary confinement and restricted access to legal counsel. The extended hunger strike caused serious health issues, and after his release, he underwent treatment at 'Feofaniya.'

After his release, Balukh settled in Kyiv. With the onset of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, he joined the 130th Battalion of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (call sign 'Tsarsky Skif'), fighting near Kyiv and in eastern Ukraine. Later, due to health issues, he had to leave the service. He is currently engaged in volunteer and civic activities in Kyiv, actively speaking out about the fate of Ukrainian prisoners of war. In December 2018, the UN General Assembly mentioned Balukh by name in its resolution on human rights in Crimea, an exceptionally rare precedent.

Information used from open sources: Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Hromadske, Radio Liberty (Crimea.Realii), Ukrainska Pravda, Suspilne Crimea, Crimean Solidarity, RBC-Ukraine.

Photo: ZMINA.

Date of update: 03.07.2026.