Ukrainian citizen Lyubov Rozhanska was detained at the airport in the capital of Kazakhstan on October 1 at the request of Russia. She had flown to Astana from Istanbul to pick up her minor grandson, whom she wanted to return to Ukraine.
This was reported to Deutsche Welle by the womanʼs lawyers Oleksiy Pryanyshnikov and Riza Nurbayeva.
Rozhanska was detained following a request from Moscow through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). She is currently in pre-trial detention. A trial will take place in the coming days.
According to Kazakh lawyer Nurbayeva, despite the fact that Rozhanska is a citizen of Ukraine, she could be deported to Russia. After all, in 2023, a criminal case was opened against Rozhanska in the Russian Federation. She was accused of kidnapping a child. Rozhanska herself did not know about the case, since she had never entered Russia.
Why was Lyubov Rozhanska detained?
The story is about her 8-year-old grandson, who ended up in Russia with his mother before the full-scale invasion. In 2021, the boy’s mother — Alla Andreeva (who lived in Odesa — traveled with her child to the Kaliningrad region, where she stayed to live with the family of her second husband (a Russian citizen).
In 2022, Andreeva obtained Russian citizenship for herself and her son. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the boyʼs father sought his return. In March 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that the child should live in Odesa.
In a comment to Insider, lawyer Pryanyshnikov added that the boyʼs father is a soldier in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Russian court allowed him to see his son only during summer vacations in the Kaliningrad region.
In July 2026, the boyʼs motherʼs new husband Vitaliy Andreev and his father Vyacheslav contacted Rozhanska and offered to hand over the child to Ukraine. However, at that time, Russia was already preparing documents to put the Ukrainian woman on the wanted list and extradite her. The Kaliningrad court also issued a warrant for her arrest.
According to her lawyer, Rozhanska went to Astana despite warnings because she wanted to pick up her grandson. She was detained there.
How are people in Ukraine reacting?
The Ukrainian Parliamentʼs Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets stated that Rozhanska was "lured to Kazakhstan through deception". According to him, the childʼs relatives in Russia acted in cooperation with FSB and deliberately persuaded the woman to come and pick up her grandson.
Lubinets said he had appealed to the ombudsman of Kazakhstan to prevent Rozhanskaʼs extradition, extradition, or forcible transfer to Russia. He also asked to verify the conditions of her detention, the legal grounds for her detention, and to ensure access to her by Ukrainian diplomats and a lawyer.
The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine told LIGA.net that they are aware of this situation and are in contact with the Kazakh side. Ukrainian consuls have requested permission to visit the Ukrainian woman in the pre-trial detention center and have received preliminary consent.
Separately, Lubinets urged relatives of Ukrainian children who are in Russia or in temporarily occupied territories not to try to pick them up on their own.
"An independent trip to the Russian Federation or an attempt to pick up the child through third countries can create serious risks for the relatives themselves and jeopardize the childʼs subsequent return," the ombudsman said.
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