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Iryna Levchenko

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iryna Levchenko
Ірина Левченко
Born (1961-09-15) 15 September 1961 (age 65)
Melitopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
CitizenshipUkraine
OccupationJournalist
Years active1981–2022
Known forReporting on local news in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Criminal charges
Espionage
Criminal penalty
15 years' imprisonment
Criminal status
Detained
SpouseOleksandr Levchenko

Iryna Yuriyivna Levchenko[a] (Ukrainian: Ірина Юріївна Левченко; born 16 September 1961) is a retired Ukrainian journalist and political prisoner who is a prominent local journalist in Zaporizhzhia Oblast for forty years, in 2023 she was detained by Russian authorities on charges of espionage. In 2026, Levchenko was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with the charges against her and her sentence being criticised by human rights groups as politically motivated.

Journalism career

[edit]

Levchenko was born and raised in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. She began working as a journalist in 1981, writing for various outlets including Noviy Den, Mltpl.City, and Fakty ta Komentari, and was a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.[1][2][3] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent occupation of Melitopol, Levchenko retired as a journalist. She and her husband Oleksandr, a retired engineer, opted to remain living in Melitopol, while other family members, including Levchenko's sister, fled to Kyiv.[4][5][6]

Arrest and imprisonment

[edit]

On 6 May 2023, Levchenko and her husband were detained on a street in Melitopol by Russian authorities on terrorism charges.[1][2][5][7] Initially held together, they were later separated, and Oleksandr was released from custody in August 2024. Levchenko was held in pre-trial detention, initially in Melitopol, before being moved to Donetsk in 2025, and Simferopol in 2026.[1][5][8] During her detention, Levchenko was allegedly held in poor conditions, including sharing a cell with six women and having limited access to medical care. Levchenko's family did not hear from her until July 2025, by which point she had been detained for two years; subsequent contact between her and her family was made possible through short letters delivered by volunteers.[3][4][9][10]

In June 2023, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, the International Federation of Journalists, and the European Federation of Journalists issued a joint statement calling for Levchenko's immediate release.[3][11] In March 2026, shortly after Russian authorities announced that Levchenko had been formally charged with espionage, the Committee to Protect Journalists publicly called on the United States Congress and the administration of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to "prioritise" the release of Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia, including Levchenko and Anastastiya Glukhovska.[12][13] In May 2026, Reporters Without Borders called for Levchenko's "immediate and unconditional release", stating that she had been detained in retaliation for her "past services to the news media and for her independence in her work".[5]

Levchenko's trial took place at the Zaporizhzhia Regional Court in September 2026. The court only identified her as "L., born in 1961", but Levchenko was positively identified in accompanying footage of the court proceedings.[1][14] During the trial, Levchenko gave testimony that she had been subjected to electric shocks while being interrogated in Melitopol in August 2023 by members of the Federal Security Service. She also reported seeing agents physically assault male detainees, including her husband; beating Olha Kapralova, a female inmate; and trying to knock the teeth out of Kapralova's husband, Hennadii Kapralov.[15] On 4 September, the court sentenced Levchenko to 15 years in prison after finding her guilty of "passing information onto Ukrainian intelligence services".[14]

Response

[edit]

Levchenko's trial and sentence was criticised by national and international human rights groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists described Levchenko's sentence as "an outrageous abuse of the criminal justice system" and called on Russian authorities to release her, and other Ukrainian media workers detained by Russia.[1] Sergiy Tomilenko, the president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, also called for Levchenko's release, describing her sentence as illegal.[16] Levchenko's family released a statement expressing their "despair" at the sentence, with her sister describing it as a "hidden death sentence" due to Levchenko not being eligible for release until she turned 80.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Yuriyivna and the family name is Levchenko.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "CPJ condemns 15-year prison sentence handed down by Russian authorities to retired Ukrainian journalist Iryna Levchenko". Committee to Protect Journalists. 8 September 2026. Archived from the original on 9 September 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 Dyachuk, Kateryna (11 December 2025). "Contact with imprisoned journalist Iryna Levchenko is limited, family says". Institute of Mass Information. Archived from the original on 16 February 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Muskharina, Valeriia (22 May 2026). "#IFJBlog:"We thought we'd be safe": the story of Iryna Levchenko, a Ukrainian journalist detained by Russia". International Federation of Journalists. Archived from the original on 10 June 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Iryna Levchenko". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2026. Archived from the original on 13 September 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Retired Ukrainian journalist Iryna Levchenko held by Kremlin for past three years". Reporters Without Borders. 5 May 2026. Archived from the original on 8 May 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  6. 1 2 "«Що це, як не смертний вирок?»: родина журналістки Ірини Левченко – про судилище Росії, цензуру і невідомість" ["What is this, if not a death sentence?": the family of journalist Iryna Levchenko on the Russian court, censorship and anonymity]. National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 7 September 2026. Archived from the original on 13 September 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "Occupiers in Melitopol kidnap journalist Iryna Levchenko and her husband". Institute of Mass Information. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 19 February 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  8. ↑ "Російські окупанти утримують журналістку Ірину Левченко у Донецьку" [Russian occupiers are holding journalist Iryna Levchenko in Donetsk]. Institute of Mass Information (in Ukrainian). 29 July 2025. Archived from the original on 5 June 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  9. ↑ "Журналістку Ірину Левченко кожні 10 днів возять із Донецька до Мелітополя на слідчі дії" [Journalist Iryna Levchenko is taken from Donetsk to Melitopol every 10 days for investigative actions]. National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 28 August 2026. Archived from the original on 13 September 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Yefimenko, Oleksandra (11 December 2025). "Журналістку з Мелітополя викрали разом з чоловіком і звинуватили в тероризмі. Історія Ірини Левченко" [A journalist from Melitopol was kidnapped with her husband and accused of terrorism: The story of Iryna Levchenko]. ZMINA (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 1 August 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  11. ↑ "Ukraine: Former journalist Iryna Levchenko illegally arrested in occupied Zaporizhzhia". European Federation of Journalists. 1 June 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  12. ↑ "Левченко Ирина Юрьевна" [Iryna Yuriyivna Levchenko]. Memorial (in Russian). 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ↑ "CPJ urges US Congress, Trump administration to prioritize release of Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia". Committee to Protect Journalists. 26 March 2026. Archived from the original on 11 April 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  14. 1 2 Pohorilov, Stanislav (4 September 2026). "Russian occupation authorities sentence abducted Ukrainian journalist Iryna Levchenko to 15 years in prison". Ukrainska Pravda. Retrieved 13 September 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ "Journalist Iryna Levchenko tortured with electric shocks in secret prison in Melitopol". ZMINA. 12 September 2026. Archived from the original on 12 September 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  16. ↑ Tomilenko, Sergiy (4 September 2026). "Сергій Томіленко: «Ірина Левченко має вийти на волю!»" [Serhiy Tomilenko: "Iryna Levchenko must be released!"]. National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 13 September 2026. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
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