cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/54784293
Russia’s First court of appeal has not only upheld an illegal conviction by an occupation ‘court’ against 68-year-old Halyna Bekhter for supposed ‘treason’ through a donation to Ukraine’s Armed Forces but has increased her sentence from eleven to twelve and a half years’ imprisonment.
The brutality is especially shocking as a human rights activist in contact with a cellmate of the Ukrainian pensioner reported several months ago that she was showing signs of dementia. While it would normally be inappropriate to bandy about such ‘diagnoses’ without a proper medical examination, Russia has not only failed to provide any such assessment but has even increased an already appalling sentence.
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Halyna was sentenced on 5 March 2026 by ‘judge’ Valery Valerievich Zmeyev, a Russian citizen illegally deployed in Russia’s occupation ‘Zaporizhzhia regional court’. He also ordered that her mobile phone be confiscated and, presumably, sold to obtain the 1240 roubles, or 14 euros, which Halyna had donated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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In late May 2026, Sota learned from a human rights activist who corresponds with prisoners, including Halyna Bekhter’s cellmate, that the latter suspected that Halyna is suffering from Alzheimer’s. The cellmate wrote that she had known Halyna since June 2025, that all had appeared to be fine, with the dramatic deterioration having been in the past two months or so. The cellmate explained, among other things, that Halyna was refusing to eat, and that they had to positively hold her so that she doesn’t run away from the table and force her to eat something.
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