A statement from the Kharkiv language school she co-founded says a 44-year-old Ukrainian woman from Kharkiv died while held in Russian pretrial detention in occupied Crimea. The statement says she was illegally held after correspondence with a volunteer was found on her phone. Russian occupation authorities say she committed suicide after three months in solitary confinement.
Kazarovytska, who served as director of studies at the Kharkiv language school she co-founded, had returned to occupied Sevastopol to help her parents sell their apartment. Her parents planned to relocate to Turkey after the sale. She was born in Sevastopol, and her parents continued living in Crimea after Russia illegally claimed to have annexed the peninsula in 2014.
According to the school's statement, Russian occupation authorities detained her when "correspondence with a volunteer from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion was found" on her phone. She was taken to pretrial detention and held in solitary confinement, likely in occupied Simferopol. Russian occupation authorities said she died on Oct. 25 and was buried in Sevastopol on Nov. 4.
"It is impossible to imagine that a young, talented, bright person was so cruelly torn from life," her former colleagues said.
An investigation by the Kyiv Independent found that two new Russian pretrial detention centers in Crimea form part of a system in which Ukrainian civilians are held for months without formal charges, access to lawyers, or family contact. The investigation revealed that detainees reported torture and abuse under the watch of Russia's Federal Security Service; former detainees told the outlet that relatives sometimes did not know whether their abducted loved ones were still alive. One facility, Pretrial Detention Center No. 2 in Simferopol, is formally operated by Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service but testimony gathered by the Kyiv Independent indicates the FSB has special access; the other, SIZO No. 8, officially came under FSB control in March 2026.
International humanitarian law allows an occupying power to intern civilians it believes pose a security threat, but only under strict conditions, including a right to appeal, regular reviews, and confinement in designated internment facilities rather than ordinary pretrial detention centers or prisons. In a September 2025 report, the U.N. Human Rights Office said it was not aware that Russia had established and applied such a procedure for those detained in occupied Ukraine.
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, estimates that Russia unlawfully holds about 16,000 Ukrainian civilians in about 200 detention sites in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine, with only a few hundred brought back. Russia plans to build another pretrial detention center in Crimea with space for 1,500 people by 2030.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The case highlights a detention system in which Ukrainian civilians are held for months without formal charges, access to lawyers, or family contact, according to the Kyiv Independent's investigation.
- The U.N. Human Rights Office said in September 2025 it was not aware that Russia had established the safeguards international humanitarian law requires for interning civilians in occupied territory.
- Ukraine's ombudsman estimates about 16,000 civilians are unlawfully held in about 200 sites, with only a few hundred so far brought back.
Background
Russia illegally claimed to have annexed Crimea in 2014, and after its full-scale invasion it turned the political persecution system it had built on the peninsula into a hub for the unlawful detention of Ukrainian civilians, mainly from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, according to the Kyiv Independent investigation. Two new pretrial detention centers in Crimea, one with reported Federal Security Service access and one officially under FSB control since March 2026, are part of that system.
Key Perspectives
Former colleagues of Oleksandra Kazarovytska: say she was illegally detained after correspondence with a volunteer was found on her phone, and called her death a cruel loss of a "young, talented, bright person."
Russian occupation authorities: claim Kazarovytska committed suicide on Oct. 25 after three months in solitary confinement, and that she was buried in Sevastopol on Nov. 4.
What to Watch
- Whether any independent or international inquiry addresses the circumstances of her death.
- Russia's plan to open another pretrial detention center in Crimea with space for 1,500 people by 2030.
- Whether any functioning mechanism emerges for the return of detained civilians, whom the ombudsman estimates at about 16,000.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedA Ukrainian woman died in Russian detention in Crimea, according to the school.Kyiv Independent: “A Ukrainian woman from Kharkiv has died while being illegally detained in a Russian pretrial detention center in occupied Crimea, according to a Nov. 5 statement by a Kharkiv language school she co-founded.”
- SupportedThe school said 44-year-old Oleksandra Kazarovytska from Kharkiv died while held in Russian pretrial detention in occupied Crimea.Kyiv Independent: “Oleksandra Kazarovytska, who was 44 years old”
- SupportedThe school said Kazarovytska was illegally held after correspondence with a volunteer was found on her phone.Kyiv Independent: “According to the statement, Kazarovytska was illegally detained by Russian occupation authorities when, "correspondence with a volunteer from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion was found," on her phone.”
- SupportedThe school’s statement said: “correspondence with a volunteer from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion was found”.Kyiv Independent: “"correspondence with a volunteer from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion was found," on her phone.”
- SupportedRussian occupation authorities said Kazarovytska committed suicide after three months in solitary confinement.Kyiv Independent: “According to Russian occupation authorities, Kazarovytska committed suicide on Oct. 25 after being held in solitary confinement for three months.”
- SupportedHer former colleagues said: “It is impossible to imagine that a young, talented, bright person was so cruelly torn from life”.Kyiv Independent: “"It is impossible to imagine that a young, talented, bright person was so cruelly torn from life," her former colleagues said in their statement.”
- SupportedRussian occupation authorities said she died on Oct. 25.Kyiv Independent: “According to Russian occupation authorities, Kazarovytska committed suicide on Oct. 25”
- SupportedRussian occupation authorities said she was buried in Sevastopol on Nov. 4.Kyiv Independent: “She was buried in Sevastopol on Nov 4., the Russian occupation authorities claimed.”
- SupportedA Kyiv Independent investigation found that two new Russian pretrial detention centers in Crimea are part of a system where Ukrainian civilians are held for months without formal charges, lawyers or family contact, and that detainees reported torture and abuse under FSB watch.Kyiv Independent: “Two new Russian pretrial detention centers in occupied Crimea form part of a system in which Ukrainian civilians are held for months without formal charges, access to lawyers, or family contact, and detainees reported torture and abuse under the watch of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), an investigation by the Kyiv Independent revealed.”
- SupportedThe Kyiv Independent reported that the FSB has special access to Pretrial Detention Center No. 2, which is formally operated by Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service.Kyiv Independent: “Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service formally operates one of the facilities, Pretrial Detention Center No. 2 (SIZO No. 2) in Simferopol, but testimony gathered by the Kyiv Independent indicates the FSB has special access to it.”
- SupportedInternational humanitarian law permits internment of civilians believed to pose a security threat only under strict conditions, including appeal rights, regular reviews and designated internment facilities.Kyiv Independent: “International humanitarian law does allow an occupying power to intern civilians it believes pose a security threat, but only under strict conditions. These include the right to appeal and regular reviews of the ruling, and confinement in designated internment facilities rather than ordinary pretrial detention centers or prisons.”
- SupportedUkraine's human rights ombudsman estimates Russia unlawfully holds about 16,000 Ukrainian civilians in about 200 detention sites in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine.Kyiv Independent: “According to estimates by Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets , Russia unlawfully holds about 16,000 Ukrainian civilians in about 200 detention sites in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine.”