Russia stages terror arrests in occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast for donations to Ukraine’s Armed Forces
Three Ukrainians from different parts of occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast have been seized and forced to ‘repent’ on video for sending money to help their compatriots defend Ukraine against the Russian aggressor. Unfortunately, the torture and / or other forms of duress used to obtain such propaganda videos are not the only weapon used to terrorise the population and try to deter them from openly supporting their own country. The two men, from occupied Melitopol and the village of Mala Bilozerka, and woman from Enerhodar, are now imprisoned and facing insane charges of ‘state treason’ and likely sentences of up to 20 years.
Russian occupation media and Telegram channels reported the ‘arrests’ on 2 July 2025, posting videos from the Russian FSB in which, for example, two FSB officers in full gear, could be seen manhandling the young woman who was not, in any way, showing resistance. The video then showed the woman and a young man ‘expressing repentance’. It seems clear that both were given the lines they had to repeat, with the man heard ending with the words: “I call on everybody to not engage in such stupidity and to think about their actions.”
Perhaps even more chilling is the deliberate omission of any explanation as to how the FSB knows that such donations were made. The occupation reports say that the FSB have “financial documents” without explaining their origin, with this true also of ‘trials’ and huge sentences already passed against Ukrainians from other occupied parts of Ukraine. Once a person has been stopped and / or ‘detained’, their telephones will be searched, with the person probably forced into revealing passwords to bank accounts, social media, etc. The fact that the three Ukrainians are seemingly shown being ‘detained’ means nothing, with the FSB regularly post-dating and staging such ‘arrest’ stunts. It is, however, possible that the FSB are setting up deliberate traps with apparent posts giving bank details, or that they have forced banks to provide such confidential information about their clients.
There is further nonsense in the allegation that the Ukrainians were either donating to Ukraine’s Armed Forces or to the Ukrainian Security Service [SBU]. Ukrainians have every reason to support those defending their country. While the SBU has, certainly, carried out daring operations against the enemy which, doubtless, cost money, they do not post details of any bank account or seek donations.
The charge against these three Ukrainians and others, under Russia’s legislation on ‘state treason’ (Article 275 of Russia’s criminal code, is particularly cynical, since the charge can be laid only because the invading state has, illegally, made it impossible to live on occupied territory without taking Russian citizenship. The number of such prosecutions for so-called ‘treason’ has risen exponentially, with Russia using such charges as weapons of repression against all who remain true to Ukraine and as a method of terror to deter others from demonstrating the same support for their own country.
The Ukrainian website RIA-Melitopol is perhaps right in pointing out that such show arrests and threats of huge sentences do demonstrate that, over three years after the Russians invaded and seized control of parts of Zaporizhzhia oblast, Ukrainians are still, not only desperately waiting for liberation, but are continuing to donate money to those defenders whose arrival they so await.
Other Ukrainians abducted and sentenced to huge terms of imprisonment for donations
Liudmyla Kolesnikova
Serhiy Shtyrov
60-year-old from Russian-occupied Donbas sentenced to 13 years for donations to Ukraine’s defenders
Two women from Enerhodar sentenced to 14 years: Lilia Kazhkariova, one of an ever-mounting number of employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to have been abducted, and S.N. Dovhopola, who was put on ‘trial’ and sentenced to 14 years for donations to the military unit in which her son is serving. This was treated by the Russian invaders illegally occupying the women’s Ukrainian city as ‘treason’.
Kateryna Korovina Forced 'to wake up a foreign citizen in her own country’. Kateryna Korovina sentenced to 10 years for opposing Russia’s occupation
Ivan Semykoz Russia sentences Ukrainian to 8.5 years for donation as a teenager to Ukraine’s Azov Regiment
Stanislav Rudenko Chilling surveillance methods as Russia sentences Ukrainian to 10 years for donation to defend Ukraine