Olha Baranevska, a retired, openly pro-Ukrainian nursery teacher from Melitopol, refused to return to work at
the nursery under the Russian occupation. In May 2024, she was abducted by the occupying authorities from
her home and allegedly tortured. A month later she was briefly released only to be arbitrarily arrested and given
twice 14 days of “administrative detention” before being accused of hiding explosives in her garden and
sentenced to six years in prison. Meanwhile her elderly mother died, and her own health is at risk.
