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‘Tkachenko’s imprisonment constitutes a violation of her right to a fair trial and other rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.’ – Memorial

On 9 April 2026 Viktoriya Oleksandrivna Tkachenko, a Ukrainian citizen and a resident of Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia region, was sentenced by the occupation Zaporizhzhia Regional Court to 12 years’ imprisonment on an unlawful charge of treason.

In November 2023, following the occupation of the area where she lived by Russian forces, Viktoriya Tkachenko obtained Russian citizenship. On 28 October 2025 Viktoriya Tkachenko was abducted from her home in Tokmak by Russian security forces. She was held at an unknown location for several days before being transferred to Melitopol, where on 14 November 2025 she was remanded in custody on an unlawful charge of treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

According to the Russian investigative authorities, Tkachenko expressed opposition to the ‘Special Military Operation’ and the policies of the Russian authorities, read pro-Ukrainian channels on Telegram and decided to provide financial assistance to the Ukrainian armed forces. According to the Russian authorities, in May 2024 she used the mobile app of a Ukrainian bank to transfer 1,000 hryvnias (about €19.25) to the account of someone serving in the Ukrainian armed forces. As the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group reports, ‘many of these alleged “donations” are, in fact, small amounts sent by Ukrainians to their children or other relatives who have left the occupied territories. Instead of recognizing this, the invaders treat any money transfer to a Ukrainian account as “treason” or claim it was to “finance terrorism”.’

On 9 April 2026, the occupation Zaporizhzhia Regional Court found Viktoriya Tkachenko guilty and sentenced her to 12 years’ imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony. The court also imposed an additional penalty of one year’s probation following her release.

Memorial has recognised Viktoriya Tkachenko as a political prisoner.

‘Following the start of the full-scale invasion and the seizure of Ukrainian territory, several million Ukrainian citizens found themselves under the de facto control of the Russian Federation. In June 2024, Ukrainian authorities stated that a total of about 6 million of its citizens were under Russian occupation. According to Human Rights Watch as of March 2025 Russian authorities had already issued passports to approximately 3.5 million residents of the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine. […] On 20 March 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Decree No. 159, requiring Ukrainian citizens residing in the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions to either “regularize their legal status” or leave. In effect, this meant that they were required to obtain Russian passports no later than 10 September 2025. Otherwise, they would be considered “foreign citizens” subject to the requirements of legislation governing the legal status of foreigners — such as a maximum stay of 90 days, mandatory medical examinations, and a number of restrictions on employment. All these actions constitute a form of legal pressure and a tool for the illegal and coercive integration of the population of the occupied territory, which is expressly prohibited by international humanitarian law. The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly stated that they do not consider their citizens who obtained Russian passports under duress to be in violation of any laws, and that “forced passport issuance is illegal and not recognized in Ukraine or internationally, as it contradicts the principles and norms of international law and constitutes a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War”.’

– ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial,‘ 27 August 2026

Write to Viktoriya Tkachenko

The Russian penal system does not allow any messages to prisoners that are written in foreign languages, but Write to Russia is here to help you. To show your support for Viktoriya Tkachenko, please send your letter as an email to us at: le******************@********il.com. We’ll translate your letter into Russian and, depending on your request, either mail the translated letters on your behalf to Viktoriya Tkachenko, or return the letters to you by email for posting in an envelope with addresses written in Russian. If we send the letter on your behalf, we ask that you compensate us for the cost of postage from the UK (currently £3.40 [$4.52; €3.90] for one letter). For suggestions on what to write to a political prisoner, click here. To learn more about our letter writing project, click here: Write to Russia.

You can write to Viktoriya Tkachenko at the following address:

Russian Federation – 283086, г. Донецк, ул. Кобозева, д. 4, ФКУ СИЗО-1 ГУФСИН России по Донецкой народной республике, Ткаченко Виктория Александровна, 1972 г. р. 

NB: We respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. However, in order for letters to reach their intended recipients in the occupied territories, addresses need to be written according to Russian rules.

The persons unjustly imprisoned in Russia whose plight our project Write to Russia has highlighted to date can be found at this link:

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