Refusal to Accept Russian Passport Leads to Prison Sentence for Ukrainian Man from Melitopol

The Abduction of Serhiy Popov

According to Главком: In September 2023, Russian military forces abducted Serhiy Popov, a resident of Melitopol. For five months, they tortured him in an attempt to force a confession of espionage. On October 11, 2024, an occupation court found him guilty, and he is now serving his sentence in Correctional Colony No. 4 in the city of Pugachev, Saratov Oblast, Russia.

Popov had consistently refused to obtain a Russian passport. He stopped communicating on September 23, 2023, when Russian soldiers stopped him while he was driving. After his detention, he was taken to an abandoned building where the torture began. For the next five months, he was held in a secret location. During this time, he lost nearly 40 kilograms. Under torture, the Russian military demanded he sign a confession admitting to working with Ukrainian intelligence. He was later moved to occupied Donetsk and then to Simferopol.

The Situation of Serhiy's Family

Serhiy's wife, Natalia, fled the temporarily occupied city with their children. She shared the following:

“He desperately wants to come home, to see the little ones and be with us. And I just want to hug him and never let him go.”

Notably, on June 26, 2023, Ukraine carried out a prisoner exchange with Russia, bringing back 160 Ukrainian defenders. Among those released were residents from:

• Mariupol
• Bucha district in Kyiv region
• Kharkiv region
• Zaporizhzhia region
• Luhansk region

The freed individuals included servicemen from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. They had participated in the defense of Mariupol and Azovstal, as well as carried out combat missions on various fronts.

The case of Serhiy Popov stands as yet another example of the crimes occurring under occupation and poses a serious challenge to the international community. The lack of an adequate response from international organizations to such incidents highlights the ongoing failure to protect human rights during armed conflicts. The question of what mechanisms could secure the release of individuals who become victims of political persecution and violence by occupying forces remains unresolved.