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Russian Court Sentences Melitopol Family to 20 Years to Life Over Alleged Sabotage
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![Maryna_kulakova]( "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
-924c3c302c27387e19f6c44aaeb98745.png "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
The Southern Military District Court in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don has sentenced a family of three from Russian-occupied Melitopol, accusing them of organizing sabotage activities, Mediazona reported on June 2.
The family received prison terms ranging from 20 years to life. Hanna Murdid was sentenced to 22 years, her son Artem Murdid received a life sentence, and Artem’s wife, Hanna Voshcoder, was sentenced to 20 years in a general-regime colony.
Artem will serve the first eight years in prison and was fined 900,000 rubles (approximately $12,000); Hanna Murdid was fined 600,000 rubles (about $8,000), and Hanna Voshcoder 550,000 rubles (around $7,300).
Russian investigators claim the family acted under orders from an “unidentified Security Service of Ukraine officer named Oleg” and planned explosions in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
The prosecution alleges that their only successful attack was the bombing of a vehicle belonging to Ivan Tkach, director of the local municipal transport enterprise, who later died in hospital; his colleague was reportedly severely injured. Other attempts targeting railways and collaborators—including Melitopol’s military-civil administration head Mykola Volyk—failed, according to case documents.
In his final statement, Artem Murdid denied all wrongdoing.
“I only learned of the charges from Russian law enforcement officials, who created physical conditions—violence and torture—that forced me to give testimony forming the basis of the accusations,” Artem said.
His mother Hanna also reported torture during her detention.
“I am not a Nazi and do not hold nationalist views. I ask the court to exclude this aggravating circumstance. Please also consider my health condition and that I require constant medical care. I want to report physical abuse after arrest—specifically, electric shocks and beatings,” she said.
Hanna Voshcoder, in her final words, pleaded not to be separated from her child.
“I am a citizen of Ukraine. I never paid attention to people’s nationality; to me, everyone is equal. Therefore, I cannot be a nationalist, and I ask for this to be excluded from the case. When sentencing me, please consider that I have a young child who needs a mother’s love and care,” Mediazona quoted her.
The Russian court found the family guilty on multiple serious charges, including “terrorist act” and “participation in a sabotage group.”
Earlier on May 16, the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic sentenced a former schoolteacher and volunteer from Australia, Oscar Jenkins, to 13 years in a high-security penal colony on charges of mercenary activity.
