Russia has not disclosed the whereabouts of Ukrainian journalist and political prisoner Heorhiy Levchenko after sentencing – RSF

The Russian authorities have not disclosed the whereabouts of Heorhiy Levchenko, an administrator of local media outlet RIA-Pivden’s Telegram channel, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in September 2025 on charges of “high treason”, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported. 

Heorhiy Levchenko. Screenshot from propaganda videos

Heorhiy Levchenko was an administrator of RIA-Pivden’s Telegram channel, formerly known as RIA-Melitopol. The Russian military detained him in occupied Melitopol on 20 August 2023, along with employees of other local media outlets. Several months after his trial, Levchenko was transferred to SIZO No. 2 in Simferopol, occupied Crimea. According to information obtained by RSF, he said at the time that he intended to appeal his conviction in Moscow. 

In June 2026, the Supreme Court of Russia upheld Levchenko’s conviction. His current place of detention, however, remains unknown. Svitlana Zalizetska, editor-in-chief of RIA-Pivden, told RSF that she was checking reports that Levchenko may have been transferred to the Altai Republic in Russia to serve his sentence. 

“We are checking reports that he may have been transferred to the Altai Republic in Russia to serve his sentence. However, there are very limited opportunities to obtain reliable information about his place of detention”, Zalizetska said. 

Levchenko is one of six media professionals from Melitopol detained by the Russian military on 20 August 2023. Five of them have been sentenced to between 14 and 26 years in prison. Pauline Maufrais, RSF Regional Officer for Ukraine, stressed that the six Ukrainian media professionals remain victims of Russia’s repressive system. 

“Their continued imprisonment in Russia under inhuman and degrading conditions cannot be justified, particularly when they are sometimes held without any information about their exact whereabouts. RSF calls for their immediate and unconditional release, together with all other media professionals held by Russia”, Maufrais said. 

ZMINA previously reported that on 2 September 2025, a Russian-controlled “court” sentenced Heorhiy Levchenko, the 36-year-old administrator of a Ukrainian Telegram channel, to 16 years in a strict-regime penal colony, followed by a further year of restricted freedom under police supervision. He was charged with high treason and making “public calls for extremist activity” online. 

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