Detention: On April 9, 2022, Valeria Goldenberg was detained by Russian security forces in occupied Crimea. The basis for the detention was a criminal case regarding the alleged desecration of the grave of a Russian serviceman who died during the war against Ukraine. After her arrest, she was placed in a pre-trial detention centre, where she remained until sentencing.

Sentence: On June 7, 2022, the Sudak City Court, controlled by Russia, found Valeria Goldenberg guilty of 'desecrating a burial site out of political hatred' and sentenced her to 2 years in a settlement colony. A significant monetary fine was also reported. On August 24, 2022, the appellate court upheld the sentence.

Valeria Goldenberg is one of the Ukrainian citizens who faced persecution by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea after the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Her case attracted attention from Ukrainian human rights defenders and media as an example of criminal prosecution of Crimean residents for actions related to rejecting Russian aggression and the war against Ukraine. A notable aspect of Goldenberg's case is that she belongs to a group of elderly individuals who became victims of political persecution in Crimea. According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, as of 2024, Russia held at least seventeen political prisoners from Crimea over the age of 60. Among them was Valeria Goldenberg, who was 63 at the time.

On April 9, 2022, Valeria Goldenberg was detained by Russian security forces in occupied Crimea. After her detention, she was placed in a pre-trial detention centre. The criminal case was initiated under the article on desecrating a burial site, committed out of political hatred or enmity. (Zona Media). According to the investigation, the reason for the criminal prosecution was an incident at a cemetery in the village of Solnechnaya Dolina near Sudak. There was the grave of Valentin Isaychev, a serviceman of the 810th Separate Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, who died during the full-scale war against Ukraine in the spring of 2022. The investigation claimed that Valeria Goldenberg came to the cemetery shortly after the military burial and committed actions that Russian law enforcement qualified as grave desecration. According to case materials, the woman poured a liquid resembling blood on the burial site and left feces on the grave. During the trial, it was reported that the liquid used to simulate blood was made from chicken liver.

During the investigation, Valeria Goldenberg did not deny her actions. However, she explained them by her political and moral beliefs. According to her, her act was driven by 'a sense of revenge and compassion for the people of Ukraine,' who were suffering from the Russian invasion. This explanation was repeatedly mentioned in the case materials and reports by independent media.

According to journalists, Valentin Isaychev died on March 24, 2022, during the destruction of the large landing ship 'Orsk' in the port of Berdyansk. The ship was used by Russian troops during combat operations against Ukraine. The death of the serviceman and his subsequent burial in Crimea were circumstances that directly preceded Valeria Goldenberg's protest action.

The trial of Valeria Goldenberg took place under the conditions of Russian occupation of Crimea. On June 7, 2022, the Sudak City Court issued a guilty verdict, sentencing her to two years in a settlement colony. Additionally, a significant monetary fine was reported. Human rights defenders noted the speed of the trial and the fact that the punishment was related to actions with an obvious political context directly connected to Russia's war against Ukraine.

On August 24, 2022, the appellate court upheld the sentence. After this, the decision became legally binding, and Valeria Goldenberg remained in custody for further serving of the sentence. Notably, at the time of sentencing, Valeria Goldenberg was an elderly pensioner. Her case was one of the first instances after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion where an elderly Crimean resident was sentenced to actual imprisonment for actions directly related to protesting the war. Human rights defenders viewed this case as evidence of the occupation authorities' increasingly repressive policy against any anti-war stance on the peninsula.

A Russian court in Crimea sentenced Valeria Goldenberg to two years in a settlement colony. Ukrainian journalists and human rights defenders emphasized that the case was considered under occupation conditions, and the woman belongs to the category of Ukrainian citizens persecuted on politically motivated charges.

After the sentence was pronounced, Goldenberg was transferred beyond occupied Crimea to the Russian Federation. According to her lawyer Marlen Khalikov, she was transferred to the Republic of Dagestan, where she was to serve her sentence in settlement colony No. 9 in the city of Kizilyurt.

Human rights defenders emphasized that transferring convicted residents of occupied Crimea to remote regions of Russia violates international humanitarian law norms. Specifically, it concerns the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupying power from transferring the population of the occupied territory to its own territory. Therefore, the transfer of Valeria Goldenberg to Dagestan was viewed not only as the execution of a sentence but also as a separate violation of international law.

The case of Valeria Goldenberg became part of a broader trend of repression in Crimea after the start of the Russian occupation of the peninsula in 2014. In the following years, Russian authorities actively used criminal law to persecute journalists, civic activists, Crimean Tatar human rights defenders, religious figures, and ordinary citizens who expressed disagreement with the occupation or supported Ukraine. (OVD-Info, 2026).

Human rights defenders emphasized that the elderly age of political prisoners makes their detention conditions particularly dangerous. Many have chronic illnesses that worsen due to inadequate medical care, psychological pressure, and harsh conditions in detention facilities. In Valeria Goldenberg's case, there were also concerns about the impact of imprisonment on her health due to her advanced age.

In 2025, the Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea reported on the persecution of women on the occupied peninsula. Among the women who continued to be imprisoned or persecuted by the occupation authorities was Valeria Goldenberg. Her case was mentioned alongside those of other well-known Crimean political prisoners, including Iryna Danilovych and Halyna Dovhopola.

The story of Valeria Goldenberg demonstrates that Russia's repressive policy in occupied Crimea affects not only activists or political figures but also ordinary elderly civilians. She became one of many peninsula residents who, after 2014, faced the threat of criminal prosecution due to their civic position or actions that the Russian authorities interpret as signs of disloyalty.

Goldenberg's case also highlights the issue of isolation of Crimean political prisoners from their families. Transferring prisoners to remote regions of Russia significantly complicates the possibility of visits, medication delivery, and maintaining contact with loved ones. For elderly individuals, such isolation often becomes an additional factor in deteriorating physical and psychological conditions.

Ukrainian and international human rights organizations regularly emphasize that the release of Crimean political prisoners should remain one of the key humanitarian issues in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Valeria Goldenberg's name is included in the lists of Ukrainian citizens whom human rights defenders consider victims of politically motivated persecution by the occupation authorities.

As of the latest available open sources, there is no confirmed information about Valeria Goldenberg's release or return to Ukraine. Human rights organizations continue to mention her among the victims of politically motivated persecution in Crimea, but her fate after serving the designated sentence remains insufficiently covered in open sources.

Information used from open sources: Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Intent, Ukrainska Pravda, Union of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners, Odessa Journal, Caucasian Knot, Crimean Platform, Radio Liberty, ZMINA, Ukrinform, Detector Media, Kyiv Post, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

Photo: Union of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners.

Update date: 01.07.2026.