In the part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region occupied by Russia, an elderly resident of the village of Plodorodne was sentenced to 11 years in a general-regime penal colony, according to a court press release cited by Current Time.
She was found guilty in a case involving the financing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over donations totaling 1,240 rubles. The press release specifies that the woman, born in 1957, had received Russian citizenship. In July 2023, “using the mobile application of a Ukrainian bank installed on her mobile phone, she made a money transfer from her account for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the security agencies’ report said. It is also noted that she “admitted guilt and repented of what she had done.”
Channel Five, citing the FSB, reported that the woman is Halyna Bekhter. According to the outlet, court records indicate that the verdict in her case was announced on March 5.
According to leaked data, she is 68 years old. In late July 2025, she was declared missing in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a case was opened under Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (“liability for violations of the laws and customs of war”). It is likely that this was when she was detained.
“Treason,” which carries penalties of up to life imprisonment, has become the main charge used for political persecution in Russia. According to estimates by the project Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial, more than 500 new political cases were opened each quarter last year in Russia’s internationally recognized regions alone — or about five cases a day.
Treason charges are usually linked to various forms of interaction with Ukrainians, including money transfers to private individuals. One such case was that of Aleksandr Vechirko, who transferred 600 rubles in cryptocurrency to his daughter in Ukraine.
