The international human rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that the current location of Heorhiy Levchenko, administrator of the Telegram channel for the local news outlet RIA-Pivden (formerly RIA-Melitopol), who is imprisoned in Russia, is unknown.
A Russian court sentenced Levchenko to 16 years in prison for “high treason” in September 2025.
A few months after his trial, he was sent to Prison No. 2 in Simferopol, occupied Crimea. At the time, he said he intended to appeal in Moscow, according to information received by RSF. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld his conviction in June 2026.
His current place of detention is unknown, RIA-Pivden director Svitlana Zalizetska confirmed.
“We are currently checking reports that he may have been transferred to the Altai Republic in Russia to serve his sentence. However, the possibilities for obtaining reliable information about his place of detention are very limited,” she said.
RSF’s Regional Officer for Ukraine Pauline Maufrais stressed that six Ukrainian media workers from Melitopol, including Levchenko, have remained victims of Russia’s repression for three years.
“Nothing justifies their continued detention in Russian prisons under inhuman and degrading conditions, sometimes without any information about their exact detention place. RSF calls for their immediate and unconditional release, as well as that of all media professionals detained by Russia,” she stated.
As IMI reported, Heorhiy Levchenko is among the six Melitopol-based Telegram channels administrators detained by Russian forces on 20 August 2023.
On 2 September 2025, a Russian-installed court in Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia oblast) sentenced Heorhiy Levchenko, the administrator of the Telegram channel RIA Melitopol who was detained by Russian forces in 2023, to 16 years in a high security prison. Heorhiy was convicted of high treason and online calls for extremism.