In early May, Russian forces Iryna Levchenko and her husband, Oleksandr, in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol. Iryna Levchenko鈥檚 relatives lost contact with her and her husband on 5 May 2023 but asked not to publicise their detention until 30 May.
Iryna Levchenko worked for years as a reporter for several Ukrainian news outlets, and retired from journalism after Russian forces occupied Melitopol in late February 2022. She had not worked in any capacity since then. Her husband is also retired and did not work as a journalist. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) connects her detention with her journalistic background. Both Iryna and Oleksandr have health issues.
Their exact whereabouts are unknown. NUJU鈥檚 branch in the region of Zaporizhzhia stated that the pair were held in 鈥渋nhumane conditions, almost without food, in a cold basement, on a concrete floor鈥� and were 鈥渟ubjected to physical and psychological torture鈥�, before Iryna was transferred to an undisclosed location. NUJU’s president Sergiy Tomilenko informed IPI that Russian occupying forces had likely charged Iryna and her husband with “extremism”.
Levchenko worked as a reporter covering local news and social issues for the Noviy Den local newspaper, local news website Mltpl.City, and national newspaper Fakty i Kommentarii.
UPDATE: On 29 July 2025, Ukrainian sources that Levchenko was being held in pre-trial detention in Russian-occupied Donetsk, and that she could be sent to Simferopol in Russian-occupied Crimea to stand trial.
UPDATE: On 4 September 2026, Russian occupying authorities in Ukraine that Levchenko had been sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage. The verdict was delivered by the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia Oblast Court, headquartered on the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region.
UPDATE: On 11 September 2026, Russian independent media on Levchenko’s testimony at court, during which she said she had been tortured multiple times while under Russian custody. She reportedly added that other prisoners had also been tortured and some were beaten.