Ukrainian pensioner jailed for 15 years by Russian occupying authorities for donating money to Ukrainian forces

Svitlana Loi, a 69-year-old pensioner from the Ukrainian city of Tokmak, currently under Russian occupation, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for donating money to Ukraine's Armed Forces. The sentence was handed down by the "Zaporizhzhia Oblast Court", a sham institution set up by Russian occupying authorities.

Source: "Zaporizhzhia Oblast Court" on social media

Details: Loi, 70, currently lives in the temporarily Russian-occupied Tokmak. In December 2023, she acquired Russian citizenship but did not renounce her Ukrainian citizenship.

From January to November 2024, she regularly transferred funds to support Ukraine's Armed Forces via the mobile app of a Ukrainian bank.

In total, she made 24 transfers totalling RUB 63,420 (US$821). The funds, sent in Ukrainian hryvnias from her pension payments, were donated because she believed she had the right to use her Ukrainian account to support Ukraine's Armed Forces.

Loi was charged with treason under Article 275 of Russia's Criminal Code, described as "providing financial assistance to a foreign country and engaging in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation".

The "Zaporizhzhia Oblast Court" found her guilty and sentenced her to 15 years in a general-regime penal colony, with a further restriction period of one year.

Background: Russian forces have turned schools in temporarily occupied Luhansk Oblast into bases for their military operations, forcing children to attend ideological classes and watch videos of captured Ukrainian soldiers.

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