Ukrainian Political Prisoner Oleksandr Osadchyi’s Health Deteriorates in Simferopol Jail

Detained in the pre-trial detention facility in the occupied city of Simferopol, Crimean political prisoner of Ukrainian and Bulgarian origin Oleksandr Osadchiy has suffered a significant deterioration in his health. For almost a year his family had no information about his whereabouts after his arrest by Russian security forces. These details were disclosed by Zarema Bariyeva, manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

According to Bariyeva, the occupiers continue to see in every citizen an “enemy of the people,” which facilitates new arrests on allegedly fabricated charges in occupied Crimea. Osadchiy – native of the Kirovohrad region, born in 1962 – has now become a victim of this repressive line.

According to relatives, Osadchiy lived his whole life in Feodosia. After graduating from the University of Odessa he worked at a shipyard, later ran his own business, was a talented mathematician, taught children to swim, and developed regional projects for reviving sheep farming in Crimea. He also contributed to the creation of the “Reykobus” program for the Kirovohrad region and worked on translating a book about the artist Ivan Aivazovsky.

On August 24, 2023, a search took place at his home, after which Osadchiy was taken away in an unknown direction. For almost a year he remained in an incommunicado status – the family did not know exactly where he was being held.

“We managed to identify the person from the video published by the occupiers a year ago, locate his relatives, and learn details of this unlawful persecution of a citizen of Ukraine in Crimea”

New information surfaces and subsequent charges

Only in June 2024 did family members learn that Osadchiy was alive and in the Simferopol pre-trial detention center. On June 12 a court hearing took place, at which his wife learned that he faces charges under three articles of the RF Criminal Code, with a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison. On July 18, 2024 a video appeared on social networks in which Osadchiy, with his face blurred, talks about “cooperation with Ukrainian security services,” Bariyeva said.

During his detention the man has lost a significant amount of weight, and according to the family his condition has sharply deteriorated.

“I want to note that my paternal grandfather, who was also named Oleksandr, was repressed and killed in 1937. Oleksandr always had an active life position, loved Ukraine, and Crimea as well, from which after the occupation he fundamentally did not want to leave”

Recently Osadchiy visited the Kirovohrad region in the summer of 2023, when he visited his 90-year-old mother. She is now 92 and awaits her son’s return after his release.