The Russian-installed Kyiv District Court of Simferopol has arrested Krym.Realii journalist Oleksina Dorohan for two months in absentia, reports the Crimean Tatar Resource Center (CTRC) in a Facebook post, citing Dorohan herself.
“In the meantime, it turns out that I have been arrested for two months in Crimea. The lawyer (a former prosecutor, by the way) is appealing something. No article listed, but they do prescribe a term. Not difficult to guess what one faces twenty years for,” Dorohan said.
The CTRC cites the Russian court as claiming that “considering the nature and degree of public threat of the incriminated offense, which may incur a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, O. V. Dorohan may evade preliminary investigation bodies or the court,” which necessitates an arrest. At the same time, the court found no grounds to choose a milder measure of restraint.
Oleksina Dorohan worked with prominent Crimean TV channels, was a correspondent for Ukraine’s central TV channels in Crimea. She has been working for Krym.Realii since 2015 and is the creator of the database project GRUZ 200, which identifies Crimeans who fought in the Russian army and died in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Updated on 13 August at 10:20. Oleksina Dorohan told Krym.Realii that she had learned about the prosecution against her in Russia on August 11. According to her, notices regarding the appeal against her arrest in absentia were sent to the apartment in Crimea where she used to live. This material was mailed out by a lawyer appointed by the Russian court.
Dorohan says that she had been unaware about the prosecution and no one had contacted her before.
The appeal by the state-appointed attorney says the court ruling arresting her in absentia for three months was passed on 23 June 2025.
The arrest warrant was issued by the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol judge Andrei Nikolayevich Dolgopolov.
The article which the pre-trial investigation is classified under and which the journalist is charged with was not specified, but the ruling does say that it “stipulates up to 20 years in prison.” The case is being investigated by the FSB officer N. A. Andreev.
The letter added that the appeal was to be tried by the Russian-installed Supreme Court of Crimea on 30 July 2025.
An analysis of case files on Russian judicial resources showed that the prosecution is filed under Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Organizing an illegal armed group or participating in it, as well as participating in an armed conflict or military operations for a purpose contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation”). According to these resources, the Russian Supreme Court of Crimea upheld the arrest.
It was reported that the Russian authorities have added the Krym.Realii journalist’s name to the List of Terrorists and Extremists under number 5621.
Oleksina Dorohan is a key contributor to Krym.Realii investigations about the deceased Russian soldiers from Crimea and the GRUZ 200 database.
The journalist left the occupied Crimea in August 2014, having officially renounced the Russian passport that the Russian authorities coerce Crimeans into getting.
Earlier, Crimean Tatar civilian journalist Remzi Bekirov, who is imprisoned in colony No. 33 in Khakassia (Russia), reported health issues and pressure by prison guards and the administration.
