A Russian military court sentenced 54-year-old Ukrainian citizen Olena Ipatova to five years and two months in prison for serving as a medic in a Ukrainian Armed Forces battalion six years before Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found Ipatova guilty under Article 205.4 Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code for “participation in a terrorist organization,” according to Russian media Mediazona, which cited the court’s press service.

Russian authorities detained Ipatova on 14 March 2025. She was initially held in custody until 2 April, then released on a travel restriction order before being arrested again in the courtroom following her sentencing.

The prosecutor’s office of the Russian-annexed Donetsk People’s Republic alleged that Ipatova served as a “combat medic” in the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Aidar assault battalion from January 2018 through spring of the same year. Prosecutors did not claim she participated in battalion activities after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has been searching for Ipatova since 20 February 2025. Her wanted notice lists Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast as her place of birth.

The case reflects a pattern of Russian courts imposing lengthy sentences on Ukrainian citizens from occupied territories who resisted Russian forces. The courts typically prosecute such cases under terrorism and “state treason” charges.

In August, the same Southern District Military Court sentenced 20-year-old Daria Kulik from Russian-occupied Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast to 18 years in prison plus a 600,000-ruble fine. The court found Kulik guilty of “state treason,” attempted terrorism, participation in a terrorist organization, and illegal storage of explosives.

In June, the court handed down sentences to a Melitopol family: 29-year-old Artem Murdid received life imprisonment, his partner Hanna Voshkoder was sentenced to 20 years, and his mother Hanna Murdid received 22 years.