Crimean political prisoner Larysa Haidai loses weight and grows weak behind bars, Crimean Human Rights Group says
A 62-year-old Crimean political prisoner, Larysa Haidai, has lost 15 kilograms and become weaker after being held completely incommunicado by Russian occupying forces for more than two years. The Crimean Human Rights Group reported Haidai’s deteriorating condition on July 31, citing information from her relatives.
Larysa Haidai. Photo provided by Crimean Human Rights GroupHaidai remains in Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 1 in the temporarily occupied city of Simferopol.
During her time in custody, Haidai’s hair has turned completely grey. Her relatives fear that continued detention could become critical for her health, the Crimean Human Rights Group reported.
Russian occupying forces abducted Haidai on 24 March 2024, along with her neighbour, Elvira Abliazova, from the settlement of Yedy-Kuiu (Lenino).
The women were held incommunicado until August 2025. It later became known that both had been transferred to Pre-trial Detention centre No. 1 in Simferopol and charged with high treason.
There is still no reliable information about the fate of a third woman, Tetiana Pavlenko (Symonenko), who was abducted on the same day.
You may also want to read: “War is when your sister dies of her wounds in your arms while Russians torture your son for ten months”: how a mother searched for missing Ivan Zabavskyi in Russia
ZMINA previously reported that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained two local women in Russian-occupied Crimea on charges of high treason.
According to the investigation, one of the detainees allegedly assisted in the bombing of a Russian military vehicle in occupied Sevastopol in 2024. The other allegedly collected information for Ukrainian special services about fuel and energy infrastructure and Russian military facilities on the peninsula.
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