On April 8, the Ukrainian writer and journalist Serhii Tsyhipa, who was illegally sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Russians, was transferred from the Simferopol Pre-trial Detention Center No. 2 to Russia. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
His wife and activist Olena Tsyhipa informed ZMINA about this.
According to the woman, she learned about the husbandʼs removal from the territory of the occupied Crimea today.
"I just learned from the lawyer that Serhii was sent to Russia yesterday. We still do not know where exactly it was staged. I donʼt understand how it is possible to not notify his lawyer and family before moving a person. So that they would not know to which city and to which colony he was staged. But in a country where lawlessness reigns, anything is possible," says Olena Tsyhipa.
Shortly before that, she received a letter from Serhii, in which he wrote that he was mentally ready for staging and asked her not to be upset. He also conveyed greetings to all relatives, friends and acquaintances.
- At the time of the full-scale Russian invasion, Serhii Tsyhipa was in occupied Novaya Kakhovka. Thanks to his efforts, a mass event of civil disobedience was held in the city. Tsygipa was also active in volunteering, helping people with food and medicine. The Russian occupiers detained him in March 2022 and have been holding him captive ever since.
- In October 2023, the occupying Russian court in Crimea found Tsyhipa guilty of allegedly "handing over to representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine data on the location, number and movement routes of Russian military units." He was "sentenced" to 13 years in prison.