THE AMERICA ONE NEWS
Jun 3, 2025  |  
0
 | Remer,MN
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge.
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge and Reasoning Support for Fantasy Sports and Betting Enthusiasts.
back  
topic
Euromaidanpress
Euromaidan Press
30 Jan 2025
Olena Mukhina


Russia sentences Ukrainian aid driver who searched for his mother in occupied Kharkiv Oblast to 11 years

A humanitarian mission to find his mother in occupied territory led to Ivan Zabavskyi’s arrest by Russian forces.
Russian soldiers.
Russian soldiers. Illustrative photo. Credit: Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters
Russia sentences Ukrainian aid driver who searched for his mother in occupied Kharkiv Oblast to 11 years

The St. Petersburg City Court has sentenced 29-year-old Ukrainian Ivan Zabavskyi to 11 years in a high-security penal colony on espionage charges, Mediazona reports.

As of January 2025, the human rights situation in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine remains dire, characterized by widespread abuses and systemic violations.

Zabavskyi, a Kharkiv resident, was arrested in June 2023. His mother, Maryna Zabavska, had remained in the village of Tavolzhanka, Kharkiv region, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In September 2022, Zabavska’s sister was killed in a shelling attack. As Russian forces advanced, she fled to Russia.

With no communication in Tavolzhanka, Ivan was unable to contact his mother. He decided to travel there as a humanitarian aid driver—the only way to access the frontline area.

He disappeared soon after, as the village fell under Russian occupation. Locals later told Zabavska that they had seen Russian soldiers take her son.

In May 2023, Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that he was being held in Russia, accusing him of “opposing the special military operation”—a phrase often used in Russian communications about Ukrainian civilian hostages.

Zabavskyi’s espionage trial began behind closed doors in the summer of 2024, with no public details of the charges. During closing arguments, the prosecutor requested a 13-year sentence.