Letter to First Lady Melania Trump on Ukrainian Women in Russian Detention
The First Lady Melania Trump
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
November 4, 2026
Dear Mrs. Trump,
We are writing as the People First Campaign, an international initiative calling for the release of people detained in connection with Russia’s war against Ukraine, including unlawfully detained Ukrainian civilians.
We were immensely relieved to learn of the agreement to facilitate the evacuation of civilians from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Ukraine’s Khersonska region and the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance. We also noted reports of the major role you played in facilitating the negotiations that led to this humanitarian operation.
Your position as First Lady of the United States provides you with particular opportunities and authority to draw attention to the need to protect civilians affected by the armed conflict.
In this spirit, we would like to once again draw your attention to the plight of Ukrainian civilian detainees, especially women, who remain in Russian custody. Many are held incommunicado, in inhumane conditions and have been subjected to systematic torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Some urgently require medical care and may not survive prolonged detention.
Your leadership could help draw much-needed international attention to their plight and advance efforts to secure their release. With another round of US-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine tentatively expected in November, there is an important opportunity to make the release of unlawfully detained civilians, particularly women facing urgent humanitarian circumstances, a priority.
The exact number of Ukrainian civilian women held in Russian detention remains unknown, as Russian authorities do not disclose this information. The Center for Civil Liberties and the Ukrainian War Archive, both members of the People First Campaign, have identified close to 300 Ukrainian civilian women currently in Russian custody, although this list is incomplete and the actual number is likely higher.
We respectfully urge you to use your public platform and humanitarian engagement to highlight their situation, advocate for their release, and encourage immediate access to medical care, contact with families, and protection from torture and other ill-treatment for those who remain in detention.
Below, we highlight particularly urgent cases of Ukrainian women whose lives and well-being remain at risk in Russian custody.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent humanitarian issue and for your efforts to alleviate the suffering of civilians affected by the war.
Respectfully yours,
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Ukrainian Women in Russian Detention — Particularly Urgent Cases
20 cases. Select a name to go to the case.
- Yanina Akulova
- Olga Baranevskaya
- Halyna Bekhter
- Iryna Danilovich
- Halyna Dovhopola
- Nonna Galka
- Oksana Gladkikh
- Oksana Ivanchenko
- Ekaterina Korovina
- Yulia Koveshnikova
- Snezhana Kozlova
- Iryna Kulish
- Margarita Kharenko
- Lilia Khrustovskaya
- Iryna Levchenko
- Kristina Lyubashenko
- Alina Mofa
- Iryna Navalnaya
- Natalia Vlasova
- Valentina Zayarnaya
Yanina Akulova
Yanina Akulova, born October 6, 1987, is a Ukrainian entrepreneur and mother of two from Russian-occupied Melitopol. Officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained her on October 11, 2022. On April 24, 2024, Russia’s Southern District Military Court sentenced her to nine years in prison and a fine of 700,000 rubles (8,660 USD) on spurious charges of participation in a terrorist community, preparation of a terrorist attack, and explosives- and weapons-related offenses.
Upon detention, Akulova was first held in a basement for approximately one month, beaten, and subjected to electric shocks. She was also forced to make an incriminating statement on camera. She lost approximately 15 kilograms in Russian custody, and prolonged detention in dire conditions aggravated her chronic allergies and bronchial asthma. Her two young daughters remain in Ukraine.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 1, Golovino, Vladimir region, Russia.
Olga Baranevskaya
Olga Baranevskaya, born September 7, 1963, is a retired kindergarten teacher from Russian-occupied Melitopol. Russian security officers initially detained her on May 15, 2024, subsequently released her but then detained her again on June 27, 2024. Law enforcement officers forced her to handle a bag containing explosives to plant her fingerprints on it. On November 19, 2024, a Russian court sentenced her to six years in prison on charges of illegally acquiring, possessing, and carrying explosives or an explosive device.
The prosecution relied in part on testimony obtained under torture from her partner, who was detained with her and subsequently released but required extensive medical treatment for injuries, including damage to his hand joints. During the first four months of her detention, Baranevskaya lost approximately 20 kilograms. She has diabetes requiring insulin injections and a gallbladder disease causing severe pain.
Latest known location: Federal State Institution IK-1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the [occupied] Zaporizhzhia Region, Melitopol.
Halyna Bekhter
Halyna Bekhter, born in 1957, is a Ukrainian citizen from Plodorodne, a village in the Russian-occupied Melitopol district of the Zaporizhzhia region. She was forced to obtain a Russian passport following the occupation. In May 2025, Russian security personnel detained her on suspicion of transferring funds to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces through a Ukrainian banking application. On March 5, 2026, the Russian-installed Zaporizhzhia Regional Court sentenced her to 11 years in prison on treason charges. In July, the First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction increased her sentence to 12 years and six months.
Bekhter was initially held at Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 in Simferopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea, where her physical and mental health deteriorated severely. According to her family, she currently weighs approximately 45 kilograms, has rapidly progressing dementia, barely communicates, and frequently refuses food. She does not receive adequate medical care. Her husband died in January 2026 while she was in Russian custody. Bekhter’s deteriorating health raises serious concerns about her ability to survive continued imprisonment.
Latest known location: Pretrial Detention Center No. 2, Vologda, pending transfer to a penal colony facility.
Iryna Danilovich
Iryna Danilovich, born May 6, 1979, is a nurse, medical workers’ rights activist, and citizen journalist from Vladyslavivka in Russian-occupied Crimea. Russian security officers detained her on April 29, 2022. On December 28, 2022, a Russian-controlled court in Crimea sentenced her to seven years in a general-regime penal colony on charges of illegally possessing explosives. An appeal reduced her sentence to six years and 11 months.
Danilovich has suffered serious health problems in custody. After developing acute ear infection in the Simferopol pretrial detention center, she lost hearing in her left ear. She has also experienced severe headaches, heart pains, breathing difficulties, and symptoms reportedly associated with a possible minor stroke. Despite repeated requests, she has been denied adequate medical examination and treatment. In 2026, Danilovich and her relatives reported continuing ill-treatment, including deliberate exposure to loud music and bright lighting that aggravated her medical condition. In October 2026, her family and human rights defenders also reported death threats and threats of violence from other prisoners, allegedly tolerated or even encouraged by prison staff. Her father died while she was imprisoned.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 7, Zelenokumsk, Stavropol region, Russia.
Halyna Dovhopola
Halyna Dovhopola, born March 27, 1955, is a retired resident of Russian-occupied Sevastopol. Russian FSB officers detained her on November 27, 2019, and accused her of collecting and sharing with Ukrainian military intelligence Russian-classified information about a Black Sea Fleet aviation regiment. On March 24, 2021, a Russian-installed court in Sevastopol sentenced her, in a closed trial, to 12 years in prison on treason charges.
Dovhopola, who was known for openly expressing pro-Ukrainian views, has suffered physical and verbal abuse in detention. Her health has deteriorated severely in Russian custody. She lost substantial weight, developed gastritis, and experienced serious mobility problems due to hip osteoarthritis. On June 16, 2026, she suffered a stroke and after a brief hospitalization was returned to the penal colony, despite being unable to walk independently.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 1, Golovino, Vladimir region, Russia.
Nonna Galka
Nonna Galka, born September 16, 1978, is a Ukrainian citizen and mother of three from Skelky, in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Russian forces detained her together with members of her family following the occupation of the area. Galka, her partner, her sister, and her nephew were initially held in an unofficial detention facility and subjected to torture. Her partner was eventually released, while Galka, her sister, and her nephew were transferred to another detention site, where the abuse reportedly continued. Her sister was beaten so severely that an ambulance was called; Galka has not seen her since.
On December 2, 2024, a Russian court sentenced Galka to 15 years in prison on espionage charges. She had previously undergone two major surgeries, resulting in the removal of approximately two-thirds of her stomach.
Latest known location: Medical Correctional Institution No. 3 (LIU-3), Barashevo, Republic of Mordovia, Russia.
Oksana Gladkikh
Oksana Gladkikh, born September 11, 1976, is a mother of four from Pryazovske, in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Following the occupation, she obtained Russian citizenship so her children could continue attending school. She openly expressed pro-Ukrainian views and was denounced on a Telegram channel identifying residents who supported Ukraine. Russian security officers detained her on November 24, 2023, and charged her with treason for allegedly collecting and transmitting information about Russian military positions to Ukrainian authorities.
On June 7, 2024, a Russian-installed court in Zaporizhzhia region sentenced Gladkikh to 14 years in prison. On October 1, 2025, a cassation court reduced her sentence to 13 years. Following her detention, she was repeatedly transported between facilities with a bag over her head and deprived of adequate food and water, losing approximately 15 kilograms. She has experienced gastrointestinal problems and, during appeal proceedings in Moscow, developed a painful dental infection and abscess without receiving adequate medical treatment. Her imprisonment has severely disrupted the lives of her young children.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 33, Kotelnich, Kirov region, Russia.
Oksana Ivanchenko
Oksana Ivanchenko, born July 13, 1976, is a mother of four from Yakymivka, in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Russian authorities detained her on November 24, 2023, and accused her of transmitting information about Russian troop positions and military equipment to a Ukrainian Telegram channel. In 2024, a Russian-installed court Zaporizhzhia region sentenced in her to 15 years in prison on treason charges.
Ivanchenko has several serious medical conditions, including arthritis, osteoarthritis, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and chronic hepatitis C. She reportedly has difficulty walking. One of her daughters, who has a serious congenital heart condition and requires surgery, was placed in an orphanage following her mother’s detention.
Latest known location: Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 6 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the City of Moscow.
Ekaterina Korovina
Ekaterina Korovina, born October 6, 1996, is a Ukrainian citizen from Pishchane, in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. Russian security officers initially detained and interrogated her on March 19, 2024, questioning her about her political views and contacts with pro-Ukrainian residents. According to Korovina, the officers threatened to prosecute her brother for espionage, torture him, and sentence him to life imprisonment unless she cooperated. She was pressured into making a self-incriminating statement and identifying other people with pro-Ukrainian views. Then, the officers allowed her to leave.
Korovina was detained again on June 10, 2024, and charged with financing terrorism and an extremist organization. The prosecution alleged that she had made small donations totaling approximately 470 Ukrainian hryvnias to recipients allegedly associated with Ukrainian organizations designated terrorist or extremist by Russia. On February 17, 2025, Russia’s Southern District Military Court sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She retracted her false confession in court and alleged threats and coercion during the investigation. Her mental health reportedly deteriorated significantly.
Latest known location: Pretrial Detention Center No. 3, Novocherkassk, Rostov region, Russia, pending transfer to a penal colony.
Yulia Koveshnikova
Yulia Koveshnikova, born September 2, 1978, is a Ukrainian citizen from Russian-occupied Melitopol whose husband serves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. She openly expressed pro-Ukrainian views and volunteered to help locate missing Ukrainian servicemen. Russian military personnel dragged her away from her from her apartment on April 4, 2023. For approximately eight months, her family had no information about her fate and whereabouts. During this period, she was reportedly detained in unofficial facilities in Melitopol, subjected to beatings, deprived of adequate food, and held there incommunicado without formal charges.
Russian authorities subsequently charged Koveshnikova with espionage, alleging that she had transmitted information about Russian military and security personnel to her husband. She denied the allegations in court. On June 7, 2024, a Russian-installed court sentenced her to 13 years in prison.
Koveshnikova has gastrointestinal problems and has lost substantial weight in Russian custody.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 15, Samara, Russia.
Snezhana Kozlova
Snezhana Kozlova (born 1991) and her young son, Alexander Radchuk, travelled in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine from Mariupol to Donetsk on April 13, 2022. Alexander was to receive in-patient treatment in a clinic in Donetsk for a shrapnel eye injury he had suffered earlier. At a “filtration” checkpoint in the village of Bezymennoye, Russian security agents stopped them, checked their documents, and seized their smartphones, forcing Kozlova to share the passwords. Then, officers from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry questioned Snezhana about her residence, employment, family connections, political views, etc.. Two hours after the questioning, armed men in camouflage uniforms apparently linked to Russian forces or their proxies, led Snezhana away. Her son was taken to a hospital without her and, after two months, was reunited with his grandmother, Lyudmila Siryuk. Despite numerous inquiries, Kozlova’s family members received no information regarding her fate and whereabouts.
Latest known location: remains disappeared.
Iryna Kulish
Iryna Kulish, born February 1, 1971 from Zaporizhzhia region previously earned her living growing and selling vegetables. Russian authorities detained her in October 2023 after denunciations concerning her pro-Ukrainian views. She was held incommunicado for approximately 20 days and alleges that physical and psychological abuse forced her to confess to involvement in a planned attack connected with the Russian-organized annexation referendum in Zaporizhzhia.
On July 29, 2024, a Russian court sentenced Kulish, who had no effective legal representation, to imprisonment on spurious charges involving participation in a terrorist community, preparation of a terrorist attack, and explosives- and drug-related offenses; on appeal, her prison sentence was to nine years.
Kulish has Parkinson’s disease, with severe tremors that have worsened in custody and interfere with her sleep. She repeatedly complained of inadequate medical care and deteriorating health. Reports from former detainees who had been held together with Kulish also raised concerns about her physical and psychological condition.
Latest known location: Pretrial Detention Center No. 2, Russian-occupied Mariupol.
Margarita Kharenko
Margarita Kharenko, born December 23, 1989, worked as a gym administrator in Russian-occupied Melitopol. On January 9, 2023, masked men in military uniforms searched her home without presenting documents and led her away. Her family had no information and her fate and whereabouts for approximately a month, until local security personnel disclosed that she was being held in a detention facility in Yakymivka, 25 km. southwest of Melitopol.
On April 3, 2024, Russia’s Southern District Military Court sentenced Kharenko to 20 years in prison on a range of spurious charges, including espionage, participation in a terrorist community, involvement in a terrorist act, and participation in an extremist organization. She has a mitral valve prolapse, a serious heart condition.
Latest known location: Federal State Institution IK-1, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Vologda Region.
Lilia Khrustovskaya
Lilia Khrustovskaya, born February 19, 1956, is a Ukrainian artist and former artistic director of the Luhansk Drama Theater. Russian forces detained her on October 28, 2023. According to accounts of her detention, Russian security personnel occupied her home for approximately a month and repeatedly beat her in front of her teenage grandson. She was detained and held in an unofficial detention facility for an extended time period, before being transferred to a formal detention center.
Russian-installed Zaporizhzhia Regional Court sentenced her to 12 years and six months on espionage charges in connection with alleged cooperation with Ukrainian military intelligence. Khrustovskaya had undergone breast cancer treatment, including a mastectomy, before detention. She also has a heart condition. She has been denied necessary medical examinations and adequate treatment in Russian custody.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 15, Samara, Russia.
Iryna Levchenko
Iryna Levchenko, born September 16, 1961, is a former correspondent of the “Telegraf” newspaper and a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. On 6 May 2023, in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, Levchenko and her husband, Oleksandr, were detained by Russian security officials right in the street. Their captors locked them in a cold cellar with concrete floors, most likely in Vesele settlement, denied them food and subjected them to torture, including with electric shocks.
Following on this, Iryna Levchenko was repeatedly transferred between different official and unofficial places of detention in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and in the Russian Federation, where she also suffered torture and other forms of ill-treatment. According to published accounts, she has been subjected to electric shock torture. Her relatives have also reported a deterioration in her health, including severe toothache and hair loss.
On 4 September 2026, the Russian-installed Zaporizhzhia Regional Court sentenced Levchenko to 15 years in prison on spurious charges of espionage. Her husband, who was released by Russian authorities after several weeks of incommunicado detention, remains in Russian-occupied Melitopol, awaiting his wife’s return.
Latest known location: Donetsk Pretrial Detention Center.
Kristina Lyubashenko
Kristina Lyubashenko, born June 3, 1989, is a trained accountant and mother of two. In March 2022, she fled to Geneva, Switzerland, with her daughters from war-torn Ukraine. In May 2023, she traveled to Moscow after being persuaded by another Ukrainian refugee, who was likely an agent of Russian security services, to stage a peaceful anti-war protest. On May 8, 2023, she was detained after allegedly playing a recording of an anti-war message and the Ukrainian national anthem from a window of a Moscow building and releasing balloons bearing the white-blue-white flag associated with Russia’s anti-war opposition.
On June 17, 2024, the Second Western District Military Court sentenced Lyubashenko to 12 years in prison on spurious charges of participating in a terrorist organization and disseminating allegedly false information about the Russian armed forces.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 1, Vladimir region, Russia.
Alina Mofa
Alina Mofa was born in 2005 in the town of Shchastia in Luhanska region of Ukraine. Her father died when she was a child, and she has been estranged from her mother since childhood. She was raised by her grandmother. On January 29, 2024, armed Russian personnel detained 18-year-old Mofa in Alchevsk on January 29, 2024 in Alchevsk, another town in Luhanska region.
The officers found videos supporting Ukrainian military on Mofa’s phone and threatened to prosecute her for terrorism unless she confessed to drug possession with an intent to sell. Under pressure, Mofa signed a false confession, which she later retracted.
Latest known location: Pretrial Detention Center No. 6 in Moscow in 2025.
Iryna Navalnaya
Iryna Navalnaya, born January 26, 1998, is a resident of Mariupol. Russian-backed security personnel detained her on September 27, 2022, and accused her of preparing a terrorist attack and storing explosives. Navalnaya told the court that officers beat her with sticks, subjected her to electric shocks, and made threats against her relatives to force her to confess.
She was held in overcrowded conditions at a pretrial detention center in Russian-occupied Donetsk, where 21 women shared a cell designed for 10. She also described severe psychological abuse and degrading treatment, including being forcibly filmed for a Russian propaganda film. Navalnaya has a range of neurological and gynecological conditions and has been denied medical assistance and access to prescribed medications in Russian custody.
On October 7, 2024, a Russian court sentenced her to eight years in a general-regime penal colony on charges of attempted terrorism and illegal possession of explosives.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 7, Yurgamysh, Kurgan region, Russia.
Natalia Vlasova
Natalia Vlasova, born October 5, 1981, was detained by Russian-backed security personnel in occupied Donetsk on March 21, 2019. She was initially held in unofficial detention facilities, including the notorious Izolyatsia detention site where inmates were subjected to systematic torture and ill-treatment. In June 2023, Russian authorities transferred her to Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 in the Rostov region for proceedings before Russia’s Southern District Military Court. On December 24, 2024, the court sentenced her to 18 years and two months in prison on spurious charges including participation in a terrorist community, espionage, weapons offenses, and preparation of an attack against law enforcement personnel.
During her trial, Vlasova described prolonged and extreme torture at Izolyatsia, including beatings, electric shocks, rape, other forms of sexual violence, death threats, and humiliating detention conditions. According to her testimony, she was repeatedly stripped naked, subjected to electric shocks while water was poured over her body, and tortured even after signing a false confession. A September 2025 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Russia described that she was raped by 15 armed men, sexually assaulted with a bottle, and had her teeth filed with a metal instrument. Her allegations were not effectively investigated by Russian authorities. Reports from her subsequent imprisonment describe exhausting labor and food deprivation. Her daughter remains in Ukraine.
Latest known location: Penal Colony No. 50, Yurga, Kemerovo region, Russia
Valentina Zayarnaya
Valentina Zayarnaya, born April 8, 1960, is an English teacher from Donetsk. Russian security officers detained her on March 25, 2023. According to accounts of her case, FSB officers followed her home after seeing her carrying a parcel, occupied her house for approximately a week, and subjected her to beatings and torture. During this period, she attempted suicide by taking an overdose of medication. The officers summoned an ambulance, and medical personnel saved her life.
On December 16, 2025, a Russian court sentenced her to 12 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 rubles (6,200 USD) on spurious charges of participation in a terrorist community, preparation of a terrorist attack, and explosives-related offenses.
Latest known location: Pretrial Detention Center No. 3, Novocherkassk, Rostov region, Russia, pending transfer to a penal colony.