Arrest: On May 16, 2022, Ukrainian artist and activist Bohdan Ziza was detained by officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea, in the city of Yevpatoria, following a protest action where he poured yellow and blue paint on the local administration building and threw a Molotov cocktail at it. He was then taken to an FSB office and later placed in a pre-trial detention centre in Simferopol. Russian authorities classified his actions as a criminal offense related to a 'terrorist act' and 'vandalism', also attributing political motivation.

Sentence: On June 6, 2023, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Bohdan Ziza to 15 years in a high-security penal colony. The initial years of the sentence are to be served in prison, followed by time in a colony. Russian authorities classified his actions as a 'terrorist act', 'vandalism', and 'calls for terrorism', while Ukrainian human rights organizations view the case as politically motivated and linked to persecution for his pro-Ukrainian stance.

Bohdan Ziza is a Ukrainian artist, civic activist, and Crimean political prisoner who became a symbol of nonviolent resistance to the Russian occupation of Crimea. He was born on November 23, 1994, in Yevpatoria. After the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation in 2014, Bohdan consistently avoided cooperation with the occupying authorities and did not support Russian policies. He openly opposed the imposition of Russian identity, and after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, he more actively demonstrated his pro-Ukrainian stance. Prior to the invasion, he recorded and disseminated an anti-war poem condemning Russian aggression and expressing support for Ukraine.

The events following the liberation of the Kyiv region and the publication of evidence of mass crimes by the Russian army in Bucha, Irpin, and other cities profoundly shocked Bohdan. It was then that he decided to carry out a symbolic protest against the war and occupation. On the night of May 16, 2022, Bohdan Ziza poured yellow and blue paint on the facade of the occupying administration building in Yevpatoria and threw a bottle with an incendiary mixture at the building. Before this, he recorded a video message urging the residents of Crimea not to remain silent, to resist Russian aggression, and not to fear expressing their civic position. However, he did not manage to publish this message. The next day, he was detained by the Federal Security Service of Russia. Soon, Russian propaganda resources disseminated a video in which Bohdan allegedly confessed and apologized. Later, the artist and his defenders reported that this video was recorded under physical and psychological pressure. According to Bohdan, during the investigation, he was beaten, threatened, subjected to psychological pressure, and forced to confirm the version of events favorable to the investigation. Human rights defenders emphasized that testimonies obtained in this manner cannot be considered voluntary, and the case bears all the hallmarks of politically motivated persecution.

As an artist, Bohdan Ziza signed his works with the pseudonym 'Syrota', which he chose because he was effectively an orphan: he lost parental care early in childhood, and his grandmother raised him. He left this signature at the site of his anti-war performance near the occupying administration building in Yevpatoria on May 16, 2022. The inscription 'Syrota' became the author's mark of the action, highlighting its artistic nature while also indicating that Bohdan consciously took responsibility for his protest against the Russian occupation of Crimea and the full-scale war against Ukraine.

Russian authorities charged Bohdan Ziza with several offenses, including 'terrorist act', 'calls for terrorism', 'threat of committing a terrorist act', and 'vandalism with political motives'. Although his actions were an evident form of political protest and did not result in human casualties, the occupying court used the most severe articles of Russian criminal law. On June 6, 2023, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don unlawfully sentenced Bohdan Ziza to fifteen years of imprisonment. The first four years of the sentence are to be served in prison, with the remainder in a high-security penal colony. In his final statement in court, Bohdan emphasized that he does not consider himself a criminal, viewing his actions as a protest against the war and occupation of Ukrainian territory. He also declared an indefinite hunger strike, demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners and the annulment of the Russian citizenship imposed on him. In his speech, he spoke about the responsibility of Russian society for the war, the daily suffering of Ukrainians, and the need not to remain silent in the face of injustice.

Ukrainian and international human rights organizations immediately recognized Bohdan Ziza's case as politically motivated. They stated that he is being persecuted not for a real crime but for openly supporting Ukraine and protesting against the occupation of Crimea. Human rights defenders emphasize that Russia violates international humanitarian law by applying its criminal legislation in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory and illegally transferring Ukrainian citizens to places of detention in the Russian Federation. After the verdict, Bohdan was transferred to a Russian prison, where he is held under harsh conditions. According to his adoptive sister Oleksandra Barkova, there were periods when the family did not know Bohdan's whereabouts or condition for months, and she repeatedly reported prolonged lack of contact, issues with letter delivery, and restricted access to a lawyer. Such circumstances raise serious concerns among human rights defenders, as the isolation of political prisoners is often used as an additional means of psychological pressure.

Despite long-term imprisonment, Bohdan Ziza has not renounced his beliefs. He continues to identify as a citizen of Ukraine, openly opposes the war, and rejects the imposed Russian citizenship. His story has become a symbol of the resilience of Ukrainians who remain in occupied Crimea and, at the risk of their freedom, continue to resist the occupying regime. For many Ukrainians, Bohdan Ziza is an example of civic courage, loyalty to his country, and readiness to defend freedom even at the cost of long-term imprisonment. His name is regularly mentioned in campaigns supporting Ukrainian political prisoners, and human rights organizations call on the international community to increase pressure on Russia to release Bohdan and other unlawfully detained Ukrainian citizens.

My Mother is alive as never before, my Mother is immortal.

My Mother is Ukraine!

And I write on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Crimeans:

Dear Mother, take us back, we want to be in Your native embrace!

August 24, 2022.

Author: Bohdan Ziza. Excerpt from a poem created in the Crimean pre-trial detention centre, August 24, 2022, on Ukraine's Independence Day.

Photo: From Bohdan Ziza's personal archive.

Information used from open sources: CrimeaSOS, ZMINA, Crimean Solidarity, Suspilne Crimea, Ukrinform, Ukrainska Pravda, Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Last updated: 01.07.2026.