Detention: On May 6, 2023, she was abducted along with her husband Oleksandr.

Sentence: As of July 19, 2026, no sentence has been issued. Iryna Levchenko remains in custody. After prolonged detention without formal charges, the occupying authorities transferred her case to the so-called Zaporizhzhia Regional Court under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code ('espionage'). Human rights defenders consider the prosecution politically motivated and unlawful.

Iryna Yuriyivna Levchenko was born on September 16, 1961. She is a Ukrainian citizen and resident of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region. For over forty years, she worked as a journalist. She was a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, worked for the newspapers 'Motorobudivnyk', 'Novyi Den', and as a correspondent for several regional and national print media. She was awarded a medal by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine for her professional activities in crisis situations. She was retired at the time of her detention.

After the full-scale Russian invasion, Iryna remained in her native Melitopol. Despite the occupation of the city, she continued to document the lives of local residents and maintained contact with colleagues. According to her family, her long-standing journalistic activities and refusal to remain silent about events under occupation may have led to her persecution by Russian security forces.

On May 6, 2023, Russian military detained Iryna Levchenko and her husband Oleksandr Levchenko on a street in Melitopol. For nearly two weeks, their family did not know their whereabouts. It was later revealed that the couple was held in the basement of a local detention facility under inhumane conditions: minimal food, concrete floors, cold environment, and complete isolation from the outside world.

Later, Iryna and Oleksandr were separated. Her husband was released in August 2024 after more than a year of illegal detention, while Iryna remained imprisoned. Initially, she was held in Melitopol, then transferred to Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 1 in Donetsk region, later to Mariupol, and subsequently to Simferopol Pre-trial Detention Centre in occupied Crimea. Communication with her is maintained only through volunteers who pass short handwritten notes. In 2026, she was transferred again, this time to Krasnodar. Human rights defenders emphasize that such repeated transfers significantly complicate communication with her family and access to legal assistance.

For nearly three years, Iryna was detained without formal charges. Only at the beginning of 2026 did it become known that the occupying authorities accused her of 'espionage' under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code. The case materials remain closed, and independent access to the trial is absent. Human rights defenders stress that the lack of a transparent investigation and prolonged detention without a sentence violate international human rights standards.

As of July 19, 2026, Iryna Levchenko remains in Russian detention. The trial is ongoing, and there is no information about a verdict in open sources.

Information from open sources: Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners, Institute of Mass Information, ZMINA, Ukrainska Pravda, Human Rights Project 'Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial'.

Photo: ZMINA.

Update date: 19.07.2026.